Drawn To You
by Angelic Devils
Summary: AU! Cordy and Angel meet while on holiday in Tenerife and they both feel drawn to each other. The only problem is...Cordelia's engaged and Angel's known to be a womaniser. Can their love survive? 2 author fic between Mrs O-Town and Insane1!
1. Fate

Title: Drawn To You  
  
Disclaimer:- We own nothing…*Insane1 sobs*…oh Mrs O-Town owns Mel and this version of Cordy's Parents, though… *Insane1 adds* But, I'll make a deal with Joss and Marti and M.E and all them guys…If you give me Angel and Spike and Gunn and all the other sexy guys…you can keep the girls…as much as I like their characters…I'm more than content with my…er…*your* guys…*and* you can totally destroy Dawn too…I don't mind on that one…I actually don't like her…can u tell? *Mrs O-Town adds* I don't think they can…  
  
A/N from Mrs O-Town:- Me? Oh! *clears throat* Hi! I'd like to welcome you to the first chapter of our fic! Insane1 and I have been working on this for about…a few weeks and a *lot* of applause goes to her for writing the breathtaking beginning *Insane1 blushes* of this and accepting the plot idea I sent her. Honestly, it's amazing how telepathic we are. She has the exact same taste as me when it comes to writing and I think that's why it was so easy to get this fic done because we both knew what we wanted. It's totally C/A all the way (except the beginning where there are hints of C/G, D/A and B/A …but hey! We will deliver. Anyway, I guess I should pass it over to Insane1 so we can get to the *actual* fic cos I know you don't want to wait any longer. Read and enjoy…and review!  
  
A/N from Insane1:- Well…look at what we've done! Yup…that's right…Mrs O- Town and I are the Angelic Devils (aka Deadly Duo on a bad day) and we've got this whole little AU thing cooked up. I can't believe she put up with me on this, but hey…I'm proud of the product. She's an amazing writer and we actually managed to get around all the problems with her being in the UK and me in Oz. I wonder if you can pick who wrote which parts…hmmm…^_^ My side of the summary? Well…its AU…dah…and in an alternate reality. Basically we're using the characters, but there's nothing supernatural about it. Sorry…but I had to take a break from that. Plus when Mrs O-Town dropped this little story line into my lap…I couldn't resist. ^_^ And we're both big C/A shippers…so guess what it is gonna be…hmmm I wonder…^_^ Anyhows…I've said my part. Byes and…oh yeah…POST A REVIEW! POST 50 IF YOU WANT! I'm a feedback addict! I need it! I want it! I must have it! Oh…we've also set up a new email account so you can contact us both easily…without doing two separate emails or whatever…okay…I'm gone for real this time…^_^  
  
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She stared across the table into his big, beautiful eyes. Somehow, she knew exactly what he was about to say. He leant forward and took her perfectly manicured hand in his, carefully avoiding the lone candle sitting between them.  
  
She stored the moment in her mind, making sure she took into account every perfect detail. After all, this would be something that she would cherish forever.  
  
A shy smile played across his striking features, the flickering light from the candle illuminating his spiky brown hair. He rubbed her hand tenderly. She glanced down at the romantic gesture for only a second, bringing her eyes back up to view his. She loved looking into those eyes. Nobody else had eyes like his. They were so...soulful.  
  
"Cordelia," He began softly, delicately pronouncing her name as only he could. It sent the same shivers down her spine each time he said it and she had met him a year ago. One year exactly this evening, as it happened.  
  
She smiled her 1000-watt smile back at him. "Yes?" She never was the type of girl to beat around the bush. With all her wealth, beauty and prestige she didn't have to act coy. And now, she had finally found a man that loved her, for who she really was, not the plasticated image she presented when flirting with boys when she was in high school. He understood that she didn't play the 'Damsel in distress' act to secure her relationship. He had, on many an occasion, told her how much he admired her strength, courage and will power. She was his princess. She ruled his world.  
  
Hell, she was *Queen C* for god's sake! Always had been and always would be. But, contrary to popular opinion, she was more than a cold, heartless bitch. She was emotional and, at the moment, she was *almost* certain she was falling in love with the man in front of her. (She knew that she cared more than deeply for him, in any case.) But, she was also reserved and cautious.  
  
The last time she had opened her heart to someone was back in high school. Xander Harris had been her love interest back then and she had given everything that had ever mattered to her up just to be with him. Things had been going great for them...at least she thought they had. Turned out that Xander had had other ideas, realising too late that he had feelings for his best friend. Poor Cordelia had been crushed.  
  
But, being the strong, self-efficient and independent woman that she was, Cordelia Chase had pulled herself out of that rut and moved on in her life. Now she had finally found this wonderful man and he loved her more than anyone else ever had - Tonight was testament to that.  
  
He had set up an elaborate candlelight dinner for two with champagne and romantic music...The whole enchilada. Of course, this wasn't the first time, But it was different.  
  
Cordy watched as he bit his lip nervously, her radiant smile encouraging him as he tried to find the right words to say. She knew that he loved her more than anything. She knew that he would give her whatever she asked for without blinking. She also knew that she could trust him with her life. But tonight he was going to tread where no man had ever stepped foot before.  
  
"Cordelia," He repeated her name, looking into her stunning hazel eyes. "I love you."  
  
"I know you do." She replied, catching her breath dramatically as he swept himself around the small circular table to kneel before her on bended knee, clutching her hand to his chest delicately.  
  
"I've been wanting for the longest time to say this to you," He said, his loving gaze never wandering from hers. "I would love for you to be my wife." Before she could respond, he let go of her hand and pulled out a small velvet box from his jacket pocket. Opening it and offering the diamond encrusted ring to her he asked, "Will you marry me, Cordelia Chase?"  
  
"Yes." She breathed, tears of joy forming in her eyes. "I will marry you, Roger Gregory."  
  
She held her hand out and allowed her fiancé to slip the giant rock...er...*engagement ring* onto her slender finger. Once this was completed, she threw her arms around his neck and met his perfect lips with her own, melting into a kiss so fused with romance and sexual tension a chainsaw couldn't even carve through the atmosphere. This would probably one of the happiest moments of her life.  
  
When she had met Roger "Groo" Gregory, she had been on one of her family's frequent vacations to Tuscany. They had bumped into each other on the beach and clicked instantly. When it dawned on her that he owned a gorgeous apartment in LA, only a few hours drive from her elegant family mansion in Sunnydale, she knew it was a match made in heaven.  
  
This man was perfect for her! Not only did he have a perfectly toned and muscled body to die for, his personality was just as beautiful. This man was gentle, loving, caring, concerned whenever she got those damned migraines of hers...and to top it all off, was completely selfless.  
  
This man was also so alluring that he had earned the nickname Gruesome from his friends, which then became shortened to 'Groo'. She really loved calling him that. It was unique. It was special. And it was her man's nickname. He was nobody else's...just hers. She sighed. Tonight was perfect. It was exactly the way she'd wanted tonight to be.  
  
*~*~*~Meanwhile at a Club in LA *~*~*~*~*  
  
"So…you wanna go back to my place. It's a bit more…uh…private." The blonde batted her eyes at him, running her hand up his trouser leg.  
  
"But we just met…oh, I don't know…" He looked at his watch. "3 seconds ago."  
  
She leant forward, her nose inches from his, staring into his big brown eyes, a hint of mischief in hers. "What's the matter? You don't wanna play?"  
  
Liam was getting sick of this. This was definitely *not* the way he'd wanted tonight to be. In the past 5…count 'em… 5 minutes he'd been propositioned *10* times. "Look," He informed her sternly, losing any evidence of tact. "I'll tell you what I've told the last 9 girls. I'm not interested. Thanks but no thanks."  
  
This girl, however, wasn't going to take no for an answer. Her hand managed to find its way even further up his thigh as she grinned at him. "Pretty please? I promise you won't regret it."  
  
He sighed. This was going to be a long night. "You're right. I won't regret it." He said, smiling his patented smile back at her. He could pinpoint the exact moment her heart melted. Liam wasn't going to deny it, he was a womaniser. The girls really fell for the tall, dark and handsome thing and he played it for so many things. But he *really* hadn't been looking for an easy lay tonight. He leant even closer to the young woman in front of him and watched as she smiled in conquest. "Do you know why?" He whispered seductively.  
  
She swallowed and breathed "Why?" Closing her eyes, just waiting for confirmation. Willing those luscious lips of his to meet with her own.  
  
"Because…" He said softly, gently prying her hand from his thigh and placing it on her knee, leaving his on top, forcing her to note his power over her. Leaning further forward so that when he spoke, his lips would brush lightly over hers, he finished "…Because I'm not going to take you up on that offer. End of story."  
  
Her eyes batted open the second she heard the word 'not'. She stared into the determination maintained in his gaze. She saw the glint in his eyes as he spoke, that told her he was enjoying stirring her up. He was every bit a sexual predator as she was and she didn't like it.  
  
Liam watched her eyes open abruptly. He hated doing stuff like this...it brought back so many memories. Ones that he really wanted to forget. But this girl had seriously asked for it.  
  
"You asshole." She said, pulling herself from him and storming away from the bar in a huff.  
  
Liam half-smiled to himself. Mission Accomplished.  
  
"Another happy customer, then?" A familiar voice joked behind him.  
  
Liam turned to face his friend. "Lorne…Long time no see." He stood and the two shared a manly hug, thumping each other on the back as only men do.  
  
The owner of the club laughed as they pulled apart. "Too long if you ask me…I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."  
  
"I've been busy…doing odd jobs here and there, visiting family, wanting to tear my father to pieces…the usual." Liam smiled and decided to change the subject before his friend could badger him about his issues once again. "Looks like business has picked up again." He looked around and motioned at the large crowd on the dance floor.  
  
"Angelcakes," his friend replied, knowing how much he hated the name. "You have no idea. It couldn't get any better."  
  
"I thought I told you to *never* call me that."  
  
"Must have slipped my mind. Want a drink? Its on the house."  
  
"That'd be great."  
  
Lorne signaled the bartender and before too long, Liam had a beer in his hand. The two began to catch up on each other's lives, making jokes at their past. Liam 'Angel' O'Malley had missed these bonding sessions. His detective agency was going nowhere with all the pro-bono 'hero' work he was doing, but he was determined not to give up. He had a once in a lifetime chance of meeting with a really high paying prospective client in a week or so. If he got that right, proper business was sure to pick up. His other career as a talented artist had been put on hold, even though his artwork was bound to rake in more money than this 'helping the helpless' thing he'd cooked up.  
  
Ah yes…the helping the helpless thing. Liam sighed once more as he thought about it. He was 27 now, and had a lot to make up for. For as long as he could remember he'd been a wild child; going out all night partying, drinking, smoking and sleeping around. He'd learnt early on in life that he was extremely good looking and worked out that he could use that to get *anything* he wanted from a girl. He'd also learnt that it was a hell of a lot easier to be the jerk that never calls the morning after, instead of sticking around and wasting time with idle chitchat. Liam had been a world- class chauvinist and asshole.  
  
Unfortunately, he'd also enjoyed it.  
  
Anyhow, he'd been a huge disappointment to his father, a strict Irishman with incredibly strong Catholic beliefs. The two never got along and the more his father told him that he was a failure, the more Liam would rebel.  
  
When Liam had finally been kicked out of home he'd met a girl that wasn't like any of the other girls he'd encountered. Darla. Now he shuddered at just the thought of her name. She was just as cruel and ruthless as he used to be. She'd see a man she liked, lead him on, practically leech the hope and life out of him to get what she wanted, discard him and repeated the process with another. She was just like the woman he'd encountered tonight.  
  
Liam and Darla had clicked immediately and she turned him into a full-blown sexual predator, much like herself. It sickened Liam to look back on this. Once he'd enjoyed teaming up with Darla to break people apart, both emotionally and relationship wise. Even though he was known amongst the woman as 'the one with the Angelic face' (and viola nickname!), he was evil. He wouldn't have admitted it back then, but he'd also been in serious need of psychological help. One day, though, Angel 'woke up'.  
  
Somehow, he'd realised that what they were doing was wrong and Darla had thrown him out on his ass for growing a conscience. So, once again, Liam was out on his own, and he'd met Buffy. From the beginning he'd known they weren't right for each other. For starters she'd seemed too young at the time. She'd still only been in high school and he'd been...older. 6 years in fact. And that was a lot when he wanted to go out to clubs and stuff and she was still a minor...but they'd tried and he'd loved her all the same...until he figured out that they really weren't going to work.  
  
He'd ended the relationship and she'd been heartbroken. But, little did she know that she had taught him a lot of things about himself and now he knew what he had to do. He knew that he had to atone for his sins. He was set on a path of redemption.  
  
After setting up AI (Angel Investigations) he started helping people out, ridding them of stalkers and the like, without asking for any monetary payback. He was actually trying to live up to his nickname and his company's motto: 'Angel Investigations...We help the helpless.'  
  
"Angel" His friend's voice shook him from his thoughts.  
  
"Yeah?" He replied, his eyes glued firmly to his beer. He didn't need counseling right now. He needed to get drunk. *Very* drunk. But, he knew that wasn't an option. He'd promised himself that he'd prove his father wrong even if it was the death of him.  
  
"What's been going on with you? You're putting out a severe Grizzly Bear vibe." Lorne prodded.  
  
Angel shrugged, knowing that he would eventually have to tell his friend. With a sigh he relayed his current woes. The torment. The anguish. The guilt. His anger at his father from their last clash. It had all gotten worse after he left Buffy. All the bad memories of his past flooded him and he couldn't escape them. "...And so I'm stuck in this dead-end job atoning for my past. It's pissing me off more than you can imagine." He finished, downing the last of his drink.  
  
"That's it." Lorne instructed, pulling out a cell phone. "You've got to get over this brooding thing. I've got no other choice. I'm calling in the guys."  
  
Angel laughed. 'The guys' were a bunch of his best friends. They always managed to pull him out of these funks. Of course they always managed to get him into a lot of sticky situations...but they were a great bunch. So, maybe tonight was going to be better after all.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*Cordy*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Telling her parents had been easy; her father was good friends with Groo's father and knew of Groo's impending plans of marriage. Her mother wasted no time in calling everybody at her bridge club to let them know of the engagement. Cordelia went to bed, with her 1000-watt smile still plastered on her face and her heart pacing a thousand times a minute in excitement. She could get used to the attention.  
  
*`*~*~*~*~*~Angel*~*~*~*~*  
  
Well...that had been fun. Angel thought, pulling himself up the stairs to his apartment. Of course, he'd had a *little* bit too much to drink as he usually did when those guys were involved...but it wasn't in a bad way. They'd partied and socialised...and now he was tired. He crashed onto his bed, a contented smile stuck on his angelic face.  
  
~*~*~*The Next Week*~*~*~  
  
*~*~*Cordy*~*~*  
  
Cordelia downed another two aspirins. Her migraines seemed to be getting worse, especially with all the hubbub. All day for the past week, the conversations revolved around the wedding and Cordelia was sick of it. All people asked was 'What sort of wedding was it going to be?' 'Was it going to be big or small?' 'What colour were the napkins going to be?' and they hadn't even set a date yet! She was seeing less and less of her fiancé Groo, which is why it was so hard to set a date for the wedding. Finally, she managed to have a few minutes alone with him.  
  
"Groo?" she asked him as he wrapped his arms around her as she stood next to him.  
  
"Hi, honey. I haven't seen you all day," he said kissing her cheek.  
  
"All week, actually," she mumbled, "When do you think the wedding should be? We really should set a date," she said. Groo moaned.  
  
"Yeah, well I thought you were taking care of all that. I don't really know. You set a date and arrange everything and I'll be there," he said, turning his attention back to his laptop.  
  
"Oh-kay…" Cordelia said. She looked at the calendar on the wall. "How about July 25th?" she suggested.  
  
"What? Oh, honey, I'm sorry, I have a big meeting that day. Why don't you choose another one? Now, I really have to get back to work okay?" He said, losing interest in the conversation.  
  
Dejected, Cordelia nodded and left.  
  
"Groo?" she said again when she got to the door. She got a mumble as a reply. "I love you,"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Me too," Groo replied, not even looking up at her.  
  
*  
  
Cordelia lay on her bed, sick of all this when her little sister came in and lay next to her. Cordelia smiled at the 16 year old mini-her. She couldn't believe how much her sister was growing up. She'd always been her baby sis…now she was more like a best friend, for which Cordy was glad…especially at times like these, when she *really* needed someone to talk to.  
  
"You ok?" Her sister asked.  
  
Cordelia shook her head. "This is getting so tedious," She answered. Her sister hugged her. "I just wish I could get away. Have a break or something and then come back. When we got engaged, everything seemed so surreal. I needed time to let it sink in, but so far, it hasn't," Cordelia continued, looking at the floor.  
  
"You should."  
  
"Should what?" Cordelia asked, not really knowing what her little sister was getting at.  
  
"Go on vacation. I'm sure no one will mind. It'll give us a break too,"  
  
"Oh, Mel…I can't do that,"  
  
Mel nodded, her perfect brown hair swishing around her shoulders elegantly. "Sure you can. If you're not happy, then I'm not happy. And if I'm not happy-"  
  
"-Nobody's happy," Cordelia finished off with a chuckle, "Are you sure no one will mind?" She became serious, but worried. Mel shook her head, to which Cordelia asked, "Where do you suggest?" now satisfied with Mel's approval.  
  
"Tenerife?" Mel replied, holding up a holiday brochure, which had been on the bed.  
  
Cordelia had been looking at possible honeymoon destinations. She'd really liked this one and for some strange reason, felt drawn to it. Her heart fluttered, as if willing her to jump at the opportunity. She smiled wanting to follow her intuition. "Yeah…Tenerife."  
  
~*~*~*Angel*~*~*~  
  
"Tenerife?" Angel asked his friends. They nodded eagerly. "I'm not sure…" he began as he held the brochure, scanning over the hotel they had picked.  
  
"What's not to be sure about? The sun, the sand, the sea…the girls…" His best friend made sure he stretched out the last word.  
  
Girls? Angel thought to himself, running his hand through his gelled brown hair. "Girls?" he repeated aloud.  
  
They nodded again. "Yeah, they really dig that destination. Maybe you could find another cheerleader there."  
  
Angel chuckled and took a long sip of his beer. "Why the sudden need to go on holiday?" he asked suspiciously. The three men shrugged.  
  
"It's winter here. All the chicks are covering up. We all *know* that's not really your style…" Lorne joked. The others nodded and chuckled along.  
  
Angel sighed in submission and rolled his eyes. "When do you lot wanna go?" He found himself asking, taking another sip.  
  
"Tomorrow,"  
  
Angel's beer flew from his mouth. "TOMORROW?" he repeated, wiping his chin.  
  
They nodded. "Yeah, we sort of already booked it and we didn't know how to tell you, especially with that Buffy chick you broke up with last month or whenever it was. Man, she really hated your guts after that." His best friend commented.  
  
"I can't go tomorrow," Angel complained.  
  
"Why?" they demanded.  
  
"I have a job interview,"  
  
"Skip it," his friend, Charles Gunn, said almost immediately.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Gunn, You know I can't do that. I need this job, I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for as long as I can remember…"  
  
"Come later," The young black man pleaded. He was *not* going to let Angel become Mr. Doom and Gloom again.  
  
"What?" Angel said, as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard  
  
"Get a later flight out."  
  
"Please?" The others whined in unison. Angel swore they were worse than 5 year olds.  
  
He sighed again. This time pointedly. "Fine," he said, calling the travel agency. After a couple of minutes, he turned to them. "The next available flight out is in three days,"  
  
"Take it. We'll meet you there," Wes, the third member of his little gang, instructed. His British accent crisp and resolved. There was no arguing with them and Angel knew it.  
  
"I'll take it," Angel informed the travel agent as his friends cheered and chugged down their beer. He looked at them, shook his head and laughed.  
  
~*~*~*~*Cordelia's house*~*~*~*~  
  
"It's booked. I'm flying out in three days time," Cordelia said. Her parents and Groo sat in front of her, not too pleased.  
  
"I wish you had asked us," her mother said simply, crossing her arms.  
  
"Please? It's only for two weeks. She'll be back happy *and* tanned." Mel argued.  
  
"You're going alone? Are you sure you don't want Groo or anyone to come?" Her father asked.  
  
"Dad, all I've heard since the engagement is wedding talk. If I go alone, I won't have to think about it and when I come back, I'll be ready," Cordelia insisted.  
  
"I don't want you to get hurt…or…you know…meet anyone."  
  
"Dad!" Cordelia warned. "I can look after myself," Groo sat in silence, still glued in front of his laptop. "Groo, honey, are you sure *you* don't mind?" Cordelia asked him, kneeling at his side.  
  
"I'm sure. I have a lot of work to get on with anyway," he said, kissing her for the first time all week.  
  
"Are you sure you're cool about it?" She asked again. Her parents thought for about a minute and then nodded. Mel and Cordelia shrieked in excitement.  
  
"Great, so I guess I'm going to Tenerife," Cordelia said, beaming.  
  
~*~**~*~**  
  
  
  
A/N: Okay so I guess it's a *little* long. Honestly, we didn't know how long it was going to be. We just wrote little bits, emailed them to each other and then melted them together with a giant hypothetical blowtorch.  
  
And now it's up to you to let us know our efforts didn't all go to waste ^_^  
  
Leave a review…please? 


	2. Inevitable

*Insane1* A/N- Wow…Mrs O-Town, did you see the number of reviews we got? And they're all so nice! I sooo want to break into Cordy's famous award speech from Birthday. Lol. Honestly, I wanna thank everyone for reading *and* reviewing. You're all awesome. Now…onto business…Yes…this is very AU…and I'll be the first to admit that parts of it are kinda corny…especially the parts from my own trail of thought…(and I said I hated clichés…lol)…But it's a light-hearted fic and not meant to be taken very seriously. Just here to make all C/Aers feel happy. ^_^ For the purpose of making myself feel better for the last chapter, lets just pretend that Buffy wasn't a SunnyD chicky. She stayed at Hemery High in LA and never met the people we call the Scoobies. ^_^ (Not that she's mentioned much in this chapter…but I thought I'd just make that clear in case she and Cordy meet up or something…and in case people got confused…I know I would have.) Now…onto the fabulous Mrs O-Town, The brains of the operation….  
  
*Mrs O-Town* A/N- (Still speechless from amount of AMAZING reviews we got) T..t…t…thank…you? I really can't believe how many of you out there loved it! I mean, WOW! I really wasn't expecting that feedback! I think I'm going to cry, so I'll make this quick…  
  
I'm sure Insane1 told you it was very AU (of course, its written up there!) but we want to make it revolve around as much of Atvs as we can omitting the supernatural side! We both are serious C/A shippers but we need the part in about Buffy (because we wanted to set Angel on the path of redemption) and I think the part about Darla and Angel's plight was brilliant (you have Insane1 to thank for that! ^_^).  
  
I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Luv Ya!  
  
~*~*~Three Days Later~*~*~  
  
*~*~*Cordy*~*~*  
  
Cordelia pulled the zip harder but it still wouldn't budge. She grunted, tucked her hair behind her ears and tried again. Mel entered her sister's room and her jaw dropped.  
  
She looked around at the clothes strewn all over the place. "What happened here?" The young brunette asked, carefully stepping over the clothes. Cordelia snapped her eyes at her sibling.  
  
"I'm…trying…to…pack…my…things," she rationed carefully. Mel mouthed a sarcastic 'Oh-Kay' and looked at the bursting suitcases.  
  
"The stupid thing won't shut!" Cordelia shouted at the currently problematic suitcase in exasperation, hitting it as if the one desperate action could solve all her problems.  
  
Mel sat on the edge of the bed where there weren't any clothes. "I don't think that'll work," The teen informed her sister. Cordelia smiled sardonically and went back to work on her luggage. Mel rolled her eyes. "Cordy, you're only going for a fortnight. There's no need for all this," She motioned at the four suitcases that were scattered around the room, "What happened to just 'packing the basics'?"  
  
Cordy stood up again to survey the scene and sighed, looking at her sister as if she had lost her marbles. "Mel, honey," She informed her baby sister. "These *are* the basics." Cordelia rubbed her hands together and pointed to the remaining case. 'The *evil* remaining case.' Cordy thought. "So, are you gonna help me close this thing, or what?"  
  
Reluctantly, the youngest Chase got up and moved to help. Once completely satisfied, Cordelia put her hands over her delicate hips.  
  
"Now, all we have to do is get these downstairs and I'm set," she said grabbing her passport, her ticket, wallet and car keys from the nightstand and putting them in her handbag.  
  
Mel looked at Cordelia, and then the bags and back to Cordelia. Her eyes widened in horror as realisation dawned on her.  
  
"Oh, no *way* am I going to carry one of *those* down the stairs. It's a death wish!" She protested. Cordelia raised her eyebrows and shot her one of those 'you'd-better-do-as-I-say-or-I'll-tell-mom-how-you-*really*-got- that-'bruise'-on-your-neck' looks.  
  
Defeated, Mel stalked over to the luggage and started with the smallest case. She made a point of dragging it down the hall rather than carrying it, all the while muttering obscenities under her breath.  
  
*~*~*Angel*~*~*  
  
"Man, it's empty in here," Angel said to himself. Gunn, his roommate, had left a couple of days ago with Wes and Lorne and Angel was all alone. Without his friends, Angel found that going out to the clubs was as fun as watching paint dry and even his favourite TV sitcom was dreary.  
  
At least the job interview had been a success. He had been employed as one of the private detectives at Gregory Enterprises, a highly respected law firm. Although Liam wasn't really the law-school yuppie type, this job was perfect for him. All he had to do is chase up dirt for the lawyers. Easy.  
  
Plus, there wasn't really that much Lawyer-Private Eye interaction, so that was a bonus. It wasn't that he had anything against lawyers; he had just never met one that he liked. Although…there *had* been that one at the interview…  
  
Angel smiled to himself. She'd been quite the vixen…Yeah…he could get used to interacting with her…What was her name again? Lily? Lilac? Lilah? Yeah! That's the one. Lilah Morgan. Maybe she might ask him for some…er…research sometime.  
  
Angel shook his head to clear his thoughts. Looked like there were some things he couldn't change about himself after all. Talk about a one-track mind…  
  
The job started in 2 weeks, which was great. Angel could enjoy this vacation and come back to a definite paying job all refreshed. The thought of leaving AI to Gunn and Wes fluttered through his mind and he smiled woefully. It was a bitter-sweet thing, this new job. It promised to pay well and provide him with endless opportunities… but he wouldn't get to do the casework with his best buddies and enjoy chugging down a beer after work while laughing about cases. Okay…so maybe he could still do the chugging and laughing thing…but it wouldn't be the same.  
  
It wasn't definite though. He wasn't leaving AI yet. The best part about this new job was the fact he could still work from his office at AI if he chose to. He'd be on call 24/7 for the damn corporate moguls…but he could still run his little detective agency if he wanted. So long as the 2 jobs never collided, everything would work out fine for him. Angel had made the choice to stay with AI…but a tiny little voice in his head told him that it wouldn't stay like that forever and sooner or later he'd wind up in a tiny little cubicle pushing papers like all the other mindless drones.  
  
"No." Angel voiced aloud. "I'm going on vacation now. I'll deal with all the work related decisions when I get back. The only decision I want to make right now is whether I want the chicken or the fish." He looked around, suddenly realising what he was doing. "I *really* need this trip. I'm going insane here…talking to myself and everything."  
  
'At least you haven't answered yourself yet.' The voice in his head chided. Angel wisely ignored it and made his way to the door, luggage in hand. He was going to have a good time and *nothing* was going to get in his way.  
  
Checking he had the tickets, passport, keys and his credit card, Angel left his luggage at the front door of his apartment to give the place the once- over. He checked to make sure all the windows were shut, that the back door was locked and that his answering machine was on. As Angel saw the glint of the yellow cab pull up on the curb, the phone rang.  
  
'The machine'll get that' He thought as he carried his suitcases into the hall of the apartment complex and locked the door.  
  
Inside the phone clicked into answer mode.  
  
"Liam and Charles aren't in right now so leave a message and we'll get back to you." Angel's voice said, followed by Gunn's "God Man! Could you be anymore boring?" Angel's voice became exasperated. "Gunn…can't you see I'm recording the message here? Oh…right…still recording…Umm…Where was I? Oh well, you know the drill. There'll be a beep. You talk."  
  
Angel hadn't really liked the end result, but Gunn had insisted that they leave it saying that it was comical and impromptu…It portrayed them for who they really were, not just a voice on a machine. He'd gone on and on like that about it so much that Angel had just shrugged and given up. He knew it was a lost cause when Gunn was arguing with him.  
  
A confused and slightly amused voice started after the shrill 'beep'.  
  
"Liam O'Malley? This is Roger Gregory of Gregory Enterprises. I want to talk to you about your new job. Call me back when you can. You've got the number. Bye."  
  
*~*~*~*~*The Airport*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Last call for flight 169, destination Tenerife, now leaving Gate 54," The voice hailed over the loudspeaker.  
  
She rushed from the Baggage Inspection. There was *no* way she was missing this flight. She'd worked too hard to get her suitcases closed and she'd just bought the perfect little gold bikini…She *needed* this vacation.  
  
He rushed from the Passport Inspection. There was *no* way he was missing this flight. He'd paid for the ticket and there were no refunds. Plus, if he didn't get out of this damn city he was going to go insane…He *needed* this vacation.  
  
They ran full speed, neither paying attention to where they were going…and the inevitable happened. They collided. Tickets, passports and luggage went flying.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" The young woman screeched.  
  
The good-looking man held up his hands. "Look lady, it wasn't completely my fault…"  
  
"That's gotta be embarrassing." Angel chuckled from his position in the queue. He'd seen the entire scene play out. In fact, all the people waiting to board the plane had. There were quite a few people heading for Tenerife, he noted. The young lady in front of him turned around and smiled. 'Wow…' Angel thought to himself. He'd *never* seen a smile like that before. It was intoxicating and beautiful. 'This one's a keeper.'  
  
"Yeah…" She agreed. "I'm glad it's not me."  
  
'Huh?' Angel thought, before realising she was referring to his statement. He smiled back at her. "Me too." He stuck out his hand. "Liam…But everyone calls me Angel. Kinda a long story."  
  
She took his hand and shook it. "Its nice to meet you. I'm Cordelia, by the way." She couldn't help noticing this man's good looks. And his biceps… And that smile… 'Stop it Cordy.' Her head scolded. 'You're *engaged*…Remember? To a guy that's not him.' She remembered to release the stranger's hand and tried to maintain conversation, her heart fluttering around like a thousand butterflies. Apparently it hadn't heard her head's order. "So…*Angel*…ever been to Tenerife before?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*The Plane*~*~*~*~*  
  
As luck would have it, Angel and Cordy found themselves seated next to each other. Angel had been booked at the window seat but, being the gentleman …okay…okay…*womaniser* that he was, he gladly swapped seats with the beauty that was Cordelia, accepting the isle. It didn't bother him in the least. As far as he could tell the view he was getting was much better than the one from the window. This one had a smile that could light up a darkened mansion in a second, leaving no crevice in shadow. It had eyes that sparkled with life and beauty. And…wow…when did he get all poetic?  
  
Cordelia couldn't believe it. Not only was this guy completely gorgeous with a totally cute sense of humour…he was also a complete gentleman. He'd given up his window seat for her. Groo hadn't even done that when they'd gone vacationing together. 'No. Groo loves you. You're *engaged* to Groo.' Her head kept arguing. 'For all you know, this guy's just trying to get into your pants. And, NO…you're not even gonna go there.' Cordy cleared her thoughts and turned to beam at Liam…er…Angel.  
  
"So…you're a Private Investigator, huh?" He nodded, his big brown eyes glistening. She smiled and continued, careful not to sound desperate to have a conversation, yet interesting enough to keep *some* chatter going. And, No, Cordelia Chase was *not* on the prowl. She was just…making friends with the hunky guy. "What sort of cases do you get?"  
  
Angel let a half smile drift across his features. This woman was quite intriguing. She had the whole 'Barbie' thing going for her…but at the same time she was…more in-depth. She was extremely charismatic with an air about her that told Angel that she was intelligent as well. And then there was that smile… Angel cleared his throat. He still had to answer her question. "Oh…well, my agency gets a variety of cases. Some are the usual 'track down my cheating ex' thing and others are more like 'I have a stalker, please help me'…There's more than that…but those two seem to be the most popular in LA." He chuckled. "Only in LA." Suddenly, he felt compelled to know more about her. "So…What is it you do exactly?"  
  
"Aww…come on…" She prodded playfully. "You're the detective. You *detect* it. Show me your nasty little detective tricks and work it out like detectives do. I wanna see what you got. Search me for clues and everything." She paused and grimaced at her choice of phrasing. "That was really supposed to be a lot cleaner than it sounded."  
  
Angel couldn't help laughing. "Awww…Now, see…I was getting all excited." Now it was his turn to grimace. "That's *not* what I meant."  
  
"Sure it wasn't." The brunette responded sarcastically.  
  
A huge grin made its way onto Angel's face. "Okay…okay…It *is* what I meant. I'm only human after all."  
  
The two chuckled for a while and Angel set about working out the mystery that was Cordelia. "Okay…you're rich, have stunning good looks, a figure that most women would die for and enjoy flying to paradise islands. You're also really charismatic and have a certain way with people." He said aloud, not really to her, but more just so she could catch onto his train of thought.  
  
Cordelia found herself nodding and smiling. "Very good. You know that much about me. You know the obvious." She had a playful edge to her voice, making sure he *knew* she wasn't completely vain. "But," She grinned wickedly and reached for her glass of complimentary champagne (So they were flying First Class. Let's just say Angel's friends helped pay for his ticket. ^_^) "You still haven't worked out what I do for a living."  
  
Angel had to hold his tongue. He had *sooo* many snarky remarks for that…but he let them go…hesitantly, yes…but he let them go all the same. He nodded smugly in response, her wicked grin becoming infectious. "Hmmm? You're also quite confident and have a good choice in champagne." He raised his glass in a mock toast and clinked it into hers. "Cheers" He brought it to his lips and took a sip. Then it dawned on him. "AH-HA!" he exclaimed. "I got it!"  
  
"Oh really?" She asked, her tone suggesting her disbelief. "Go on then."  
  
"You're an actress." Angel informed her, proud of his deduction.  
  
"Alright. You got me." She chuckled. "How'd you finally work it out?"  
  
He smiled triumphantly. "Ah…Well…That's a secret. A good Private detective never reveals his source…or techniques. But I will tell you that I am very good at what I do. That and my good friend, the TV over there, just informed me."  
  
She rolled her eyes and then caught a glimpse of the TV. Sure enough, there was the ad she had filmed last month. The one with the incredibly skanky bikini top. The one that she felt so degraded in. Suddenly, Cordelia didn't feel so good. "Oh no." She said, her voice suddenly serious.  
  
Angel immediately lost his sense of humour. "What's wrong?" He asked.  
  
"That ad…it was awful. I look soo…slutty in it. I mean…I don't look like a respectable actress…I look like a god-damn porn star. I can't believe that thing's still being aired." Her head fell into her hands and her shoulder length brown hair fell forward as she hid in shame, sobbing silently into her hands.  
  
Angel didn't know what to do. He'd never really been that good around crying women. He was usually what caused the crying anyhow…Not what tried to stop it. Slowly, very cautiously, he placed his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Cordelia? Please…you don't look slutty…you look…" His mind raced for the right word. Slip up now and he'd have the wrath of an emotional woman bearing down on him. "…alluring."  
  
She raised her head slightly and cocked it to one side. "That, in male terminology, is just another word for slutty." She informed him.  
  
Angel couldn't help but laugh, Cordelia playfully jabbed him in the ribs, which made him laugh even harder. Cordelia noted that there were several people now looking at them, some looked quite annoyed. Cordelia tried her hardest to calm him down, but one look at him got her wrapped up in laughs too.  
  
It wasn't long before a stewardess came up to them, threatening to have them removed. (Insane1: How does one get *removed* from an airplane in flight?…lol…^_^ Sorry…now I have images of Cordy being thrown out of the plane halfway across the ocean…lol…its funny really…oh look…now Angel's joining her…lol ^_^. Mrs O-Town: I don't know! Although it is a funny thought! ^_^ Look out below! ^_^ ) Cordelia and Angel, who had tears of laughter streaming down their faces, calmed down a little bit. Cordelia cleared her throat and stifled another giggle. Angel took deep breaths to calm himself down and get his breath back.  
  
"Oh my god!" Cordelia could only manage a whisper. Angel looked around.  
  
"What was so funny anyway?" she asked. Angel shrugged before remembering and chuckling.  
  
"Don't answer that question!" Cordelia quickly said before Angel could start laughing again. She sighed and then recoiled, holding onto her stomach.  
  
"Are you okay?" Angel asked, his tone turning urgent. Cordelia winced and nodded.  
  
"I've got a stitch," she explained. It was a historical fact that whenever Cordelia laughed too much, she got pains in her stomach. Angel reached his hand out to touch her abdomen…he wanted to try to make the pain go away. Cordelia looked at him, surprised at his action  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked, Angel looked up and immediately pulled his hand away. He hastily apologised, going a nice shade of scarlet.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"  
  
"It's fine," Cordelia interrupted as she got up and tried to move out falling over Angel's outstretched legs as she did so. Angel, who had surprisingly quick reflexes, managed to catch her before she ungracefully fell. However, he couldn't prevent her from jabbing her elbow into his thigh.  
  
"Ow!" he exclaimed receiving an apology from an embarrassed Cordelia. "Any further up my leg and I think I might have been neutered."  
  
Cordelia pulled herself up, visibly reddened, and giggled. She clamped her perfectly manicured hand to her mouth to prevent a repeat. "Sorry," she snickered and tried to *climb* over Angel this time.  
  
"Where are you going?" He asked.  
  
Cordelia motioned to the bathroom, "I need to freshen up," she explained.  
  
Angel gave her one of his smiles. "Well, don't be too long," he said as she flashed him a grin and disappeared.  
  
Cordelia closed the lock and silently giggled, remembering the events that had occurred. Angel was no doubt a funny guy. She hadn't had this much fun since…well; she hadn't had this much fun in a *long* time. Cordelia opened the tap and cold, soft water gushed out. She washed her face and dried it, looking at herself in the mirror. She gasped a little as she caught the glint of her ring in the reflection.  
  
'What the hell are you doing?" she scolded her herself. 'You've just got engaged to the man who you've been in a loving relationship with for over a year and you're the happiest you've ever been in your whole life, but you haven't even been apart for a *day* and you are in a flirting match with a guy you've only just met! Okay, so Angel is a gorgeous guy with the most captivating brown eyes in the universe, and *maybe* he can get you all hot and bothered…especially when he gives you one of those sexy smiles… And maybe you *have* talked to him more in the last few hours than you have spoken to Groo in the last *week!*…but you're not exactly being fair here.'  
  
'Groo…' she mused as she watched the lights glimmer off the ring, which seemed to be weighing her down 'Keep thinking of Groo. Not Angel!' she mentally pleaded with herself before a frown crossed her face.  
  
"Screw it!" she said aloud, pulling the ring from her finger and almost throwing it down on the edge of the sink. "I took this vacation to *stop* thinking about Groo and the wedding…" Her finger seemed to be relieved of the weight and Cordelia started to feel better. "For the year I've remained totally faithful. I used to have guys falling over each other just to be *seen* with me. I may have always wanted to settle down and start a family, but I miss the single life. It's about time I had some fun!" Cordelia smiled at her reflection. "Go on…Enjoy yourself." She instructed it.  
  
"For the next two weeks, I am single and I'm free and I'm going to enjoy myself…starting with Angel. I may not even see him again after the flight so I may as well have some fun now…" she said, convincing herself that flirting with this guy couldn't do any harm.  
  
Her head had the grace to add, 'Anyway, what Groo doesn't know, can't hurt him, right?'  
  
She finished her thoughts and checked her make-up, her hair and straightened out her outfit before putting the ring in her purse.  
  
'Watch out boys, here I come!' Cordelia thought as she exited the bathroom and went back to her seat. Angel saw her approaching and dutifully got up, allowing her to get in. She thanked him by smiling her especially reserved 1000-watt smile and gently touching his forearm. 'Queen C's still got it.' She grinned at the look on his face.  
  
Angel observed the gesture, which sent shock waves throughout his body. No girl had ever done that to him before, not even Buffy or Darla. This was too good to be true. *She* was too good to be true! What the hell was he missing here? There had to be something…  
  
And he called himself a detective.  
  
"So, Angel," Cordelia smirked as she sat back down, "We've talked about almost everything, except why you're going to Tenerife," she said. Angel sat down and shifted a bit to get comfortable.  
  
"Well, I just felt like a vacation. Things at home got a bit stressful and I needed to get out of the house."  
  
Cordelia nodded. "I know what you mean. Things just became…too much for me."  
  
Angel smiled. "I probably wouldn't be here if my friends hadn't persuaded me to come." He watched Cordelia look around, as if she had missed something. He shook his head and explained. "They got an earlier flight out."  
  
She looked at him quizzically. "How come?"  
  
"I had a job interview I couldn't miss and…plus… if I had flown out with them, I wouldn't have met you." Cordelia blushed and took a sip of her champagne to try and calm herself down. She felt Angel's eyes on her, and it pierced through her heart. 'Wow, could this guy *be* any hotter?' she asked herself.  
  
Angel couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth. He was turning into the smooth-talking, womanising creature that lived beneath his skin…and he couldn't control it. But the difference this time was that she was a rich actress who probably drove a red convertible while he was the owner of a small detective agency who could only just make ends meet. He had no chance. Looks could only get you so far with a woman that had everything. He knew that. Didn't stop him from trying though. He was almost disgusted with himself. *Almost*.  
  
"Thanks," Cordelia said, Angel smiled at her again, which made her blush even more.  
  
"How about you? Meeting anyone out there? Family, friends?" Angel dreaded the response 'Fiancé…boyfriend…husband…significant other.' He deliberately failed to touch on the subject.  
  
Cordelia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I…er…I'm on my own. I just needed to get away from everything…everyone," she explained.  
  
He felt his heart do a summersault and almost whooped for joy. So far, this girl was fair game. Keeping his excitement hidden, he coolly replied, "I'm the same… except I have to share a hotel room with the three stooges who I spend far too much time with anyway!" He'd already said that…hadn't he? He inwardly rolled his eyes at himself. No woman had ever made him feel soo clumsy in flirting. Come to think of it…no woman had ever made his heart summersault before…What was going on with him?  
  
Cordelia nudged him and shook him out of his thoughts. "I'm sure they're not *that* bad!"  
  
"You wanna make a bet? I bet the minute they see me, they'll be dragging me off to the first club they see." He paused "…Not that that's a bad thing…" He smiled and shook his head. "I just find it gets a little repetitive sometimes."  
  
Cordelia nodded. "Uh-huh. I used to love the socialising…but when I-" She cut herself short. She couldn't believe she was about to say 'When I met Groo…' She had to think quickly. Hey, she was an actress. Improv came naturally. "-When I became an actress…I started going to the more sophisticated parties and functions."  
  
"That's understandable." Angel replied. "I've actually been undercover at social functions and stuff…totally different atmosphere."  
  
He wanted to hit himself upside the head. 'Smooth one Angel…Remind her once again of the difference in calibre between the two of you. While she gets *invited* as a *guest* you *sneak* in as a…well…as a sneaky thing.'  
  
He decided to change the conversation. "So…Which part of Tenerife are you going to?" Angel asked.  
  
"Playa de la Americas." She seemed oblivious to the immediate change of subject.  
  
'Good.' His mind heaved a sigh of relief. 'Hang on…did she just say what I think she just said? She did…she did.' Angel took the final sip of his champagne and smiled confidently. "Really? Me too. The guys booked it. Apparently it's the best place to go to for clubbing."  
  
"Well…I've been looking at-" Again she found herself slipping. This time she almost said 'Honeymoon destinations'. "- I've been looking at different holiday locations and it just stood out. Once again…I might refrain from the clubbing scene…I think I'll spend most of my time sunbathing, getting massages and in the sauna."  
  
Angel grinned. "Sounds like a plan."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Okay, hope you enjoyed that! If you did, if you didn't then there is a little purplely blue button down there: I  
  
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Hope that worked! See ya! ^_^! 


	3. Flirtatious

A/N from *Mrs O-Town*- *Sobs* You are all sooo great! I love ALL of you! I also have to thank you because its your reviews that make this fic possible and I know that I can say I loved writing this particular chapter! You see…every weekend, me and Insane1 meet up on the internet and write this fic over the net (its pretty easy). Especially the dinner scene (am I revealing too much?) was fun with the chickens!  
  
A/N from *Insane1*- Hey again…I promise I won't take up too much time. There's this chapter that you have to read and review…see…its right down there. You've all been sooo excellent! *Sobs* I love you guys. And before I really *do* break into the Cordy acceptance speech from the opening scene of Birthday…I bid you all adieu. Thanks sooo much for your support. It means sooo much. ^_^  
  
PS- read Mrs O's fics at (I have no idea)  
  
And mine (*Insane1*…duh, you knew that…god I'm a ditz sometimes) at (I still have no idea)  
  
Don't forget to post reviews. ^_^  
  
Thanks muchly.  
  
Now…on with the show.  
  
*~*~*~*~*The Hotel*~*~*~*~*  
  
They'd caught a cab together and split the difference, it seemed the best thing to do since they discovered that they were both staying in the same hotel, Hotel Bouganville Angel still kept up being a gentleman, by helping her with all her bags and opening and closing doors for her.  
  
Cordy walked into the lobby of the stunning hotel and knew that she was in her element here, especially when she had caught sight of that beautiful, marble fountain outside. Angel gave a low whistle. The hotel was beautiful. And they'd only made it to the lobby.  
  
They surveyed the scene. The hard, cold marble floor reflected the light of the chandeliers and made everything seem…heavenly. The marble was a soft colour and the flowers that were scattered around the room accentuated at how posh the hotel really was.  
  
Cordelia couldn't believe how alluring the place really was. 'Wow' She thought to herself. 'If heaven is *half* as dazzling as this…Wow…' She stalked over to reception, her heels clicking quite loudly against the marble floor. Cordelia only hoped that it wouldn't ruin the finish as she passed the bellboy struggling with her luggage. A pretty young woman with a twinkle in her eyes smiled up at her.  
  
"Hi!" She chirped in what Cordelia noted was 'overly practised speech' voice, "Welcome to Hotel Bouganville, are you two together?" Cordelia and Angel looked at each other, and shook their heads both amused; yet slightly embarrassed.  
  
"No, we're not…together," Angel said the last word as if it was a sin. Inside he cursed himself. 'Could I *sound* any more pathetic? Pull yourself together O'Malley. You've been with pretty ladies in far more…er…*compromising* positions and walked away without so much as a sheepish grin. What is it about this one that's making you turn into a pre- pubescent teen all of a sudden?' He shook his head and decided to turn on the charm as he stole another glance of his newest acquaintance.  
  
Smiling the patented womanising smile he added, "Unfortunately." In a tone that was halfway between playfully flirting and incredibly seductive. Both women crooned. Angel's smile broadened. 'I still got it.' He inwardly crowed.  
  
Cordelia looked at him and blushed a little. This man was so…so…what was the word he'd used on the plane? Alluring. Yes…that's the one. He was also pretty damn sexy. 'Of course I meet him *after* I get engaged.' She thought to herself. 'Where the hell was he a year ago?'  
  
She realised that she was starting to stare and… 'Oh My God! Am I *drooling*? No. No way. Cordelia Chase doesn't drool over guys. They drool over her.' She smiled back at him, suddenly gaining the upper hand in this flirt fest. He'd made her drool…on purpose. This guy *had* to have known what that smile of his did to women. This meant war! And Queen C may have lost a battle or two…but she never, *ever* lost the war. He was going to pay.  
  
Cordelia placed her hand on his upper arm, knowing full well the effect it would have on him. She'd kinda noticed on the plane the first time and now she had a weapon. "So," She batted her eyelids at him and watched as he gulped a little. She smiled in victory. "Are you gonna check in…or am I?"  
  
Angel was left speechless. He couldn't believe the character of this girl. She was very confident…but not like the girls in the bar the other week. Although her proposition was very, very subtle and refined…it was still there, and it still packed the same punch. He just couldn't pull her up on it. Damn! She had him right where she wanted him. They both knew it.  
  
He swallowed and fought to keep himself in check, smiling and motioning for her to go ahead. "Ladies first." He replied suavely. He knew what she was doing. She'd turned their innocent flirting into a flirt war and he still had a few cards up his sleeve. He put the smile back on and she faltered again. His keen womanising senses from the bad ol' days picked up on it, where an ordinary man wouldn't have. As another clerk came to serve him, he whispered into her ear, "I trust I'll be seeing you around."  
  
Cordelia smiled back brightly at Angel, inwardly cussing at him. The ball was back in his court and he knew it. And that cologne of his…She shook her head and turned back to the girl. "Hi. Thanks…" She glanced at the girl's nametag. "…Susana. I made a reservation under the name Chase. Cordelia Chase."  
  
From his position at the other end of the small desk, Angel just stared at Cordelia. She had run through everything as if it was a common occurrence for her. Well, duh! Cordelia was a rich, attractive woman who travelled a lot. What did he expect?  
  
Cordelia watched as the receptionist typed a bunch of letters into her computer. "Okay Ms Chase," She began. Cordelia hoped that Angel hadn't picked up on the use of the word 'Ms'…he didn't need to know that she was engaged. Actually, *she* didn't need him to know. "You're in room 109. That's on the third floor" Susana passed her two key cards, one for the door and the other for the electricity, and hailed the bellboy over. "This is Ramón." She gestured at the young man.  
  
'And *that* my friend is what you classify as a cutie…' Cordy's mind rambled. She took in his slightly ruffled brown hair, his chocolate eyes and his slim, yet muscular, tanned frame and inwardly sighed. Getting married to Groo seemed more and more like a chore as this day progressed. Especially in the dating and drooling section of life. No more Angels or Ramóns ever again.  
  
Just Groo.  
  
She should be rejoicing…She was getting to live her dream life. The one with the white picket fence, cute little cottage, gorgeous (rich) husband and 2.3 children. But she was giving up the *fun*. She was giving up the *zest*. She was giving up the *dating* and the wining and dining. Wordlessly, she debated with herself whether she had made the right decision. Groo loved her… She knew that. But did she love him *that* much? Could she be the perfect wife like he wanted? She was shaken from her silent reverie by Susana's voice.  
  
"He'll be showing you to your room. Is there anything you require? Complimentary chocolate on your pillow?" Susana asked. Cordelia shook her head.  
  
"No, thank you. I just need to get some rest," Cordelia sighed acknowledging the sudden jet lag that came over her.  
  
"Sure. Dinner is at eight at the restaurant. If you'd rather stay in your room, there is room service available. You'll find the menu on the dressing table." Susana continued.  
  
Cordelia nodded again, replying with a monosyllable "Thanks," and prepared to leave, following the bellhop to the elevator. She cast a look at Angel who had just checked in, obtained eye contact and gave him a wave. "I'll see you around," She called. The doors closed before he could reply. "Hah!" She said aloud, forgetting the bellboy that was in her presence. "Take that Mr Flirty!"  
  
*  
  
"I hope so," Angel whispered, watching as Cordelia disappeared from his sight. She'd gotten the last word. Damn her! Just as the doors shut, three rowdy men came bounding up to Angel.  
  
"Angel, my man!" Gunn greeted with a high five, "So you finally made it. You've been missing some *serious* action, we've got a lot of catching up to do tonight. There's a club around the corner and-" Gunn's rambling was cut off by Angel's quick interruption.  
  
"No thanks, I'd rather stay in," his friends stood in stunned silence  
  
"Well, of course, you must be tired," Wesley finally interjected. "What do you want to do instead?" he asked. Angel looked thoughtfully at the elevator.  
  
"How about dinner. Eight o'clock. I hear they have…a great menu." Angel said, immediately thinking of Cordelia and the implications of it all.  
  
Gunn looked as if someone had just stolen candy from him. "Lemme get this straight. You just flew into party central and you wanna go to dinner?" he asked disbelievingly. Angel nodded, only to be hit upside of the head by his girl-crazed best friend. "What's wrong with you? Have you gone insane?"  
  
Angel laughed. "*No* I have not gone insane. Its just…you know…airline food. Not good." Gunn tried the dejected pout. Angel sighed. "I promise you…look… we've got two weeks. There'll be plenty of time for partying later."  
  
"But…the hot mommas!" The younger man whined before being dragged along to the elevator by his friends. He'd just lost the argument.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Cordelia almost choked at the sheer brilliance of it all. Her room was quite big, a nice TV, a balcony that overlooked the most beautiful scenery she'd ever seen in her life and not to mention how big the wardrobes were. Cordelia was scared that she didn't have enough clothes to fit inside. 'Oh well,' She'd thought. 'I can always buy more while I'm here…'  
  
The first thing Cordelia did was walk out onto the balcony and breath in the fresh air. It felt so refreshing she wanted to stay out there forever. She glanced below her at the pools, the tennis courts and the private beach. She watched as little children ran around, their laughter infecting the air and causing her to smile broadly. She wondered what her children would be like.  
  
She'd like to have two girls and a boy. Maybe even twins. That'd be nice. She could dress them up the same until their unique personalities shone through and they moaned about it.  
  
She smiled as the thought of her sister entered her mind. Cordelia was proud of the relationship they shared.  
  
They always stuck up for each other and told each other everything. Mel would make a great Aunt, she thought. Cordelia could see Mel and her heavily pregnant self going shopping for baby clothes. Then they'd get a cup of coffee and her husband would wrap his arms around her and kiss her gently.  
  
Cordelia could also see their baby. It would have her smile and her chin, but it had to have Angel's eyes…Angel? Whoa!  
  
Cordelia stopped her daydreaming there.  
  
What the hell was she doing thinking about her and Angel? *Especially* her and Angel with kids? God…their flirting had really messed her thoughts up. The connotations alone…  
  
A goofy smile planted itself on her face and she shook her head vigorously.  
  
Finally, Cordelia managed to rid her head of the bad, bad thoughts and took in another breath of fresh air. She continued looking over the sight.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Angel allowed Gunn to open the door and dumped his bag on his bed. Lorne and Wesley had the room next door but there was a connecting door in between the two. Angel looked the room over. He could get used to this.  
  
He looked over at Gunn, who had put on the basketball game on their TV. Wesley and Lorne were also in the room with them, taking an immediate interest in the last minutes of the game.  
  
Angel wasn't so interested; he was more inclined to find that perilous beauty he had spent the trip over with. He made his way out to the balcony, and the others followed quickly.  
  
"Yo, Angel, did you see that slam dunk?" Gunn asked. Angel shook his head as he searched for Cordelia. "It was tight, man!"  
  
"I'm sure it was," Angel replied dryly.  
  
"What are you doing?" Wesley asked. Angel missed the question as he had found the object he'd been looking for, directly opposite their room in the other section of the hotel's third floor. She was just staring down at the activity below, laughing with that luminous smile of hers.  
  
"Admiring the sights, hey?" Lorne asked as he traced Angel's gaze to Cordelia.  
  
"Ooh…nice. Who's the foxy lady?" Gunn asked, his approval more than evident.  
  
Angel smiled. "Cordelia Chase. We spent about nine hours together on our way here. She's amazing," He informed them, all the while never removing his gaze.  
  
"Looks like you're in love." Wesley joked. Cordelia caught Angel's gaze and gave him a shy wave before disappearing into her room. Angel sighed.  
  
"You know Wes," He said veering back into the room. "I think I could go for a drink or two after all. Who's up for goin' to the bar?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"How was the flight over?" Wesley asked. The group was seated at the bar, each man clutching a beer. Angel looked down at the bottle in his hands and turned it around. He was clearly pondering over the pretty lady…what had he called her? Cordelia? Wes cleared his throat.  
  
Angel looked up slightly sheepish. "Huh? What? Did you say something?"  
  
His English friend chuckled. "I asked how your flight was. Clearly…you enjoyed *something* about it, yes?"  
  
"Huh?" Angel asked before realising what his friend meant. He furrowed his brow a little. "No. I mean, what do you mean?"  
  
"Don't play coy, cupcake." Lorne interposed, tossing his arm over Angel's shoulder lazily. "That girl you were eyeing earlier…Its obvious she entertained your…er…thoughts." All four men broke into wide grins…Angel avoiding any eye contact with the others. "You were thinking about her just now, weren't you? I don't exactly blame you. I mean, she's-"  
  
"A fine piece of ass!" Gunn finished and chugged down his drink.  
  
Despite himself, Angel laughed at his friend's comment. "I wouldn't put it that way…but I can't deny it either."  
  
They all laughed. Angel felt great. Everything so far had been perfect. The trip over was more than comfortable, the company he'd been keeping had been extremely enjoyable, the hotel was exquisite and he didn't have to work.  
  
'I must have died and gone to heaven.' He mentally assessed, smiling to himself. As he glanced around the room, he caught the gaze of a throng of women. The one he chose to refer to as 'their leader' waved at him, and motioned seductively for him to join her. He smiled back and politely declined with a shake of his head. She pouted a little and stood up. 'Oh boy. Here comes trouble.' He thought, watching as she strode over confidently to join him.  
  
Gunn brightened immediately as he saw the approaching women. "Now *that's* more like it." He whispered to Wesley, who smiled and swatted him away. He didn't particularly want or need Gunn in his personal space when he could have one of these lovely ladies.  
  
"Hi." The leader purred, taking her seat next to Angel. She held out her perfectly manicured hand. "Liana. And you are?"  
  
Angel took this woman in. She had long black hair and bright green eyes. She was extremely attractive…the kind of woman he might consider hooking up with. But not tonight. After meeting Cordelia, this woman seemed so…not his type. He took her hand anyway and shook it gently. "Angel."  
  
Liana smiled. "Angel huh? That's…different." She batted her eyelids at him, as if expecting him to shower her with attention and intimate conversation.  
  
Angel shrugged, much to her dismay, and looked back town at his beer. "Its my nickname."  
  
The woman tilted her head to the side and smiled again. "I see. What's your *real* name, then?"  
  
He lifted his head and turned to look at her again. "Liam." She giggled. 'That's a response you don't get everyday.' Angel thought to himself. 'What have I missed here?'  
  
"This is sooo amazing." She told him.  
  
He still didn't catch on. What he *did* work out, tough, was that this attractive creature in front of him seemed to become ditzier and ditzier by the second. And, under normal circumstances, this kind of girl was perfect for him. Yet, he found himself comparing her to the brunette beauty that was plaguing his thoughts…and she didn't seem to meet his standards. Since when did he set standards anyway?  
  
He was shaken out of his thoughts when the girl giggled again and rolled her eyes at him. "Its sooo obvious. Liam…Liana?" She stressed the alikeness of their names and he'd finally gotten it. Inwardly, he cringed. Not another 'this must be fate' fanatic. It was amazing how many girls he met could be so ditzy. He smiled painfully at her as she continued. "How fateworthy is this? We're like sooo totally meant for each other….don't you see? We were like sooo supposed to meet…."  
  
Angel stopped listening and let her trail on and on with her hopeless attempt at a pickup. He nodded every so often and turned to his friends as he searched for an escape route. No such luck. They were all busy with women of their own. Angel had a sneaking suspicion that he happened to be the only one *not* enjoying himself.  
  
He scanned the room again, praying for a miracle. Liana's inane babbling was starting to get on his nerves, but he really didn't want to say anything out of place. After all, she was just trying to be polite…in a hitting on him kinda way. At least she wasn't as straight forward as some of the other women he'd met over the years.  
  
Angel looked into the restaurant and smiled. It was such a romantic setting. The tables were all set beautifully with candles and had pretty napkins that had been folded 'just so' to make them look like ornaments. It would seem such a shame to unfold them and use them for their intended purpose.  
  
Suddenly he found his miracle and had to stop himself from whooping in joy. She was standing at the elevator a vision of everything that was good and pure on this earth. 'And there I go again with the poetic. What the hell's gotten into me? She's just another terribly attractive, ultimately charismatic, smart and alluring woman.'  
  
His head was filled with so many thoughts as he watched her glide through the crowd. The light glistened off her shoulder length dark brown hair, picking up the natural highlights and accenting her gorgeous hazel eyes.  
  
She wore a low cut red number that clung to her perfectly curved body and brought out the depth of the lipstick she was wearing. Every man in the entire complex seemed to stop and watch her as she floated by. Angel couldn't help but growl possessively. This was definitely new territory for him. No woman had ever had this effect on him. Ever.  
  
From his seat at the bar he managed to catch her gaze and stood up, smiling uncharacteristically.  
  
Liana was confused at first…until she followed her Liam's line of sight. There she saw her competition and reached for his arm, trying to show this lady in red that he was *her* man. Not to be played with.  
  
Angel felt the girl's touch but shrugged it off, muttering some frivolous excuse. He didn't care what she thought. He could feel her stare of disbelief drilling into his back as he walked over to greet Cordelia, and it didn't faze him. 'She might even put two and two together and find that it makes four.' He joked to himself, hoping that the girl would get the point and move on to someone else.  
  
"Hi…" He purred seductively, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. 'A gentleman through and through.' He thought slyly. 'Gets them every time.' "Fancy bumping into you here."  
  
Cordelia's heart started pumping faster the second she'd seen him. It sped up when he'd made eye contact and she was *sure* it had jumped out of her body when she'd seen him ditch the hottie that was drooling all over him. But now, as he kissed her hand in an attempt to look like the perfect gentleman, she thought she saw it flying over the stunning full moon.  
  
'Chase. Get A Hold Of Yourself. You're *engaged* to a man that loves…loved?…no…definitely loves you very much. And here you are going gaga over some guy you met not 12 hours ago? What the hell is wrong with you?'  
  
"Hey yourself." She managed to reply calmly. "It's a small world."  
  
She watched his big brown eyes sparkle. "That it is." He held out his arm in a gentlemanly fashion. "Care to join me?"  
  
Suddenly, Cordelia found herself slipping out of reality. She was stuck in time…just gazing into the beauty and mystery of this man's soulful gaze. Neither made any attempt to move. They were both so totally wrapped up in each other that neither noticed the parade of men coming towards them.  
  
"Yo! Angel!" The attractive black man called, waving his arms around in a friendly manner. Cordelia cursed him for ruining the moment.  
  
'He's gonna get a *huge* ass kicking for this.' Angel turned around to face him, looking extremely frustrated. "Yes, Gunn?" He managed through clenched teeth.  
  
His so-called 'best friend' sidled up beside him and through a muscled arm around his neck. "Are you gonna introduce us to your foxy lady friend?" He asked, his tone a mixture of playfulness, innocence and…was he just hitting on her?  
  
Angel found himself growling again. Letting out an exasperated sight, he motioned lazily at his friend and then to Cordelia. "Charles, this is Cordelia." Ignoring the stare of death from Gunn at the use of his proper name, Angel motioned back from Cordelia to his friend. "Cordelia…this is Charles." Another man came to his side. "And Wesley…" Then another, "…*and* Lorne." He watched as she shook each of their hands and he continued. "These are my friends. The one's I was telling you about. Y'know, the ones that never leave me alone?" He emphasised the last part and glared at the guys, hoping that they would get the message. Sadly, they didn't.  
  
Cordelia found herself smiling at his attempts at getting rid of the group. Wes, Lorne and Gunn smiled back at her. Each offering a "nice to meet you" or something to that effect. Her smiled broadened and blossomed into the one that seemed to make Angel go weak at the knees. Gunn had to speak up.  
  
"Whoa, Angel! You seriously found a good one, y'know that?"  
  
Angel cringed in embarrassment. Cordelia stifled a laugh. It was amusing to watch these men, who were all so different, interact. Gunn swivelled around and swung his remaining arm around the delightful Cordelia's shoulders, thus forcing himself in between the pair. He could tell it was irritating Angel…and he was lovin' every second of it. After all…*this* was the man that had taken away tonight's plans of clubbing, clubbing and more clubbing. He had a funny feeling that this woman was part of the problem, too. And when Gunn wants to party, Gunn gets to party. End of story. Anyone who comes between him and a good night on the town will suffer the consequences. Tonight that 'anyone' just happened to be his best friend.  
  
"So…" he said, squeezing the two obviously uncomfortable people tightly, "What's on the agenda tonight? We all gonna eat and go party or we gonna scrap the eatin' and go straight to the partyin'?"  
  
Angel squirmed free of his friend's grasp and threw him a 'cut it out or I will *make* you cut it out' kinda look. "Actually…you guys can go on ahead. I'm not exactly in a nightclub mood." He extended his hand to Cordelia and motioned to the terrace outside. "Shall we?"  
  
She smiled her dazzling smile and accepted his offer, placing her seemingly delicate hand into his strong, masculine grasp. She was surprised that his touch was so loving and tender. This man was full of surprises, though. She could tell.  
  
Gunn looked slightly dejected, but got over it soon enough when he realised that Wes and Lorne had headed back to the bar and had found another flock of women to chat up.  
  
* Meanwhile…out on the terrace…^_^*  
  
Cordelia stared up into the beautiful sky. The stars twinkled and she closed her eyes as a cool breeze swept across her face. She took a deep breath in and looked back out at the scenery, which included the silhouette of the mountains in the distance against the bluey night sky. The waves on the beach below them crashed into the neatly placed rocks, making the famous beach sound. It was the perfect setting for a romance movie, Cordelia thought, before trying her hardest to banish those thoughts.  
  
"Its so beautiful, isn't it?" She whispered.  
  
Angel, who'd been too busy staring at her to notice the view simply stated, "From what I can see…It's perfect."  
  
She tried not to notice the subtle compliment. She still felt so guilty. She shouldn't be here with him. Not now that she was engaged to Groo. She felt awful for the position she was putting herself in. Not so much for herself, but for the men she was bound to hurt. This had started off as playful flirting and now it seemed to be turning into Temptation Island syndrome. The thought of hurting these men caused her to shiver and Angel was on her in a second.  
  
"You must be freezing." He said, suddenly full of concern.  
  
She couldn't bear to look into his eyes. "No…I'm fine…honest." She shrugged.  
  
Angel wouldn't hear of it. "No. You're shivering. Now take it already. I'd hate for you to get sick."  
  
She smiled at that and allowed him to slip it over her shoulders. Something about the action was so sensual and the feeling of his hands as they ran down her arms while he tried to warm her…  
  
'STOP IT CHASE!' Her mind screamed. 'BAD! VERY BAD THOUGHTS! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!'  
  
She swallowed and looked back over the romantic scenery. Slowly, very softly, Angel's hand was placed over hers on the balustrade. The two stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to disturb the moment. Then Angel cleared his throat.  
  
"I…uh…I wanted to apologise for Gunn's behaviour. He can be a real jerk sometimes."  
  
"That's okay..." she replied. "I didn't really take any notice." Of course she *had*…but it didn't matter. She had friends that pulled similar stunts, so it was no big.  
  
"No, really." Angel insisted. "I've probably ruined your evening-"  
  
Cordelia cut him off. "No! Don't even think that. Believe me, your friend is fine…I like the guy to be honest." He raised an eyebrow at her and she giggled. God, her laughter was intoxicating. "Not in *that* way, doofus." She joked, playfully hitting him on the arm. "He seems like a real fun guy. They all do."  
  
He heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm still sorry. Look. I'll make it up to you. Have dinner with me. Just the two of us. I promise I'll keep Gunn away from you, even."  
  
She broke into a smile. "My hero." She joked.  
  
The two laughed as they walked back into the restaurant. Angel wrapped his arm around her and she leant her head against his shoulder, despite herself. This just felt…right.  
  
'No!' Her mind screamed again… 'Groo is right. You know, tall guy? Muscly? Kinda like Angel only slightly *engaged* to you?'  
  
She tore herself from his shoulder and he pulled out a seat for her. She sat and he helped her pull herself in before taking his seat opposite her. He hailed a waitress and ordered two glasses of red wine and a couple of menus.  
  
Cordelia leant forward. "So...Angel," She began, "Tell me a bit more about yourself...Where u grew up...your pets names...you know...trivial details."  
  
He squirmed in his seat. The only place that this conversation could go was bad. "Well…" he offered slightly nervous, "Ireland. I grew up in Ireland."  
  
Her eyes widened a little with interest. "Wow. Really?" She asked, before playfully adding, "What happened to the cute leprechaun accent?" Then had to force a giggle back down at the thought of Angel dressed as a leprechaun.  
  
"Ahhh," He started, preparing to relay the explanation he'd repeated hundreds of times before. "One…I'm a fast learner. Two…" He allowed himself to slip back into the Irish brogue, "It's not completely gone." Back to American. "And three we kinda moved when I was still in my late teens…that was around 10 years ago. God…time flies when you're having fun." Suddenly, he knew that was the wrong phrase to use. 'Damn it, O'Malley. Stop Bringing Back Your Past.'  
  
"Oh…" She tilted her head with interest. "Why'd your family move?"  
  
The waitress brought them their drinks and menus and placed them on the table. "Sorry to interrupt," She told them, "When you're ready to order just give me a yell, okay?"  
  
Cordy smiled and nodded, then looked back to Angel, awaiting her answer.  
  
He sighed. "Things between my father and I got…a little stressed...But you don't need to know about all that." He took a rather large sip of his wine, clearly uncomfortable about the conversation.  
  
Cordelia knew that she should let it the subject go for the time being. He was obviously finding it hard enough to deal without having to relay the tale to some stranger that he only just met. She decided that it was time to change the subject somehow.  
  
In the end, she didn't need to as Angel had already taken the task upon himself. "What about you?" he asked.  
  
"Well..." She started, taking a sip of her wine before continuing. "I've spent my life in Sunnydale. My family's kinda wealthy...but I've been trying to break off and make it on my own. I haven't been on a holiday with them since..." She trailed off; suddenly realising that the last holiday had been when she'd met Groo.  
  
"Since...?" Angel prompted.  
  
"Since..." She had to think quickly, yet again. "...I got my first real acting job." Once again...not a complete lie. Just toying with the truth. She *had* gotten that understudy position the same week… Anyhow, what mattered was that Angel believed her. He seemed satisfied.  
  
Cordelia tried to switch the subject. This conversation was getting too risky. "So...what do u want to order?"  
  
Angel shrugged. "Ladies first. What do you feel like?"  
  
"Well...I hear the oysters are nice." 'Oh great one Chase,' She chastisised herself. 'What is with you? First you do the touchy and flirty…next you consider ordering a proven aphrodisiac...' She tried to change course, hoping he wouldn't notice her reddening face. "O-or the lobster..."  
  
He smirked. So…her first instinct had been an aphrodisiac? That meant he was in with a chance. Of course she'd also obviously noticed her mistake. No problem. He could still play. "I've never tried oysters…" He lied. "Say…don't they have aphrodisiac properties?"  
  
Her face flushed even more and she brought the menu up higher to avoid looking at him. He smiled. "Relax…I'm only playing with you."  
  
She kicked him under the table. "I don't play."  
  
They burst into laughter and surveyed the menus further. "They have various chicken dishes…" Cordy offered.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Nah…too mundane. You deserve something exquisite." She smiled. "An exquisite meal for an exquisite lady." He added.  
  
She blushed and accepted his compliment. She could get used to this.  
  
"Okay…what about the seafood platter for two?" Cordelia suggested.  
  
Angel thought it over and nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good." He waved the waitress over again and made their order. As she walked away, Angel reached for his wine. Unfortunately, someone walking past bumped him as he did and he accidentally knocked the glass.  
  
Angel watched, completely horrified, as it teetered and fell, spilling red wine all over Cordelia's lap. 'This can't be good.' He thought. 'Definitely not good.'  
  
*********************  
  
PS- read Mrs O's fics at http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=118772  
  
And Insane1's at http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=155048  
  
And our joint one at http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=212091  
  
Don't forget to post reviews. ^_^  
  
Thanks muchly. Luv ya. ^_^ 


	4. Pain

*Mrs O-Town* - This has to be my fave chapter so far! It was the best to write and the conversations Anita and I had were THE BEST! We loved toying with this and we loved all the fighting and before I give it all away, I'd better shut up or you won't be reading the chapter at all. Which would be bad because you'll miss the part where… (at this point Insane1 gags Mrs O to prevent her from giving away anything)…[Muffled] Enjoy the chapter!  
  
*Insane1*- Lol! Sorry…I'm kinda trying to keep my evil cohort (Mrs O tries to hit me) okay…not so evil cohort from spilling the beans…. Well…this was a fun chapter…I loved writing the part where…oh crap…now I'm doing it "Thanks Mrs O" …lol…Just read it and review! Please! You've all been great so far! And I've gotta go 'cos my co-author just got loose! Aaaahhhh…. ^_^ (I'm only kidding…I love ya T!)  
  
******************************  
  
There was a moment of deathly silence. Angel and Cordelia were frozen in their places. Gunn, Wesley and Lorne, who seen the whole thing from the bar, turned away to hide their laughter.  
  
"He's screwed," They said in unison as they clinked glasses and took a long swig of their drinks.  
  
Angel grimaced as he saw the looks of amusement on his friends' faces. 'Yep. Definitely not good.' He thought  
  
Cordelia gulped, looking around at the faces of the other patrons. What the hell was she supposed to do?  
  
Angel shook himself out of his trance. "Oh God! I am sooo sorry. I…I didn't mean..."  
  
Cordy held up her hand to silence him. "Uh...you know...It's okay...I'm just gonna...go get cleaned up." She took one look at his face and for some strange reason felt compelled to stay. He looked so distraught…and she was almost certain she knew he was thinking that she'd leave and not return. Under normal circumstances that's *exactly* how it would play out. But this…This was different.  
  
"I'll be back," She promised him, smiling to prove her point. "You still owe me dinner. And I'm thinking you've just bought me dessert as well"  
  
He brightened, but still looked so ashamed. "I'll pay for the dry cleaning...or a new dress." He swallowed hard. A girl like her probably wore Versace and he could *not* afford Versace. However, he'd ruined her dress and he had an obligation to cover the cost.  
  
"I'd rather have the...uh...dessert," Cordelia replied, smiling at him once more before walking towards the ladies room.  
  
He sighed in relief. "Okay. Dessert I can do." 'Oh...did I Just sound as pathetic as I think I did?' He asked himself, considering his comment. He grimaced. 'I did. Again I ask; What is it with this girl?'  
  
*  
  
Cordelia entered the luxury bathroom and started to giggle. This confused her to no end, as she would have, under any other circumstance, gone insane over the new dress.  
  
'What's with me?' She thought. 'This is an expensive dress, but I don't care? And I'm *laughing* instead?'  
  
Something was definitely wrong with her. 'Maybe its love…' she thought, instantly dismissing the idea. She stared into the mirror defiantly. "Of course its not love." She argued with her reflection. "*Groo* loves me and I...like him a lot back."  
  
'But you can't be sure' her mind hissed again. 'Can you?'  
  
"Okay...you know what? I know what it is. I'm insane. That's what it is. I'm even talking to myself."  
  
She began to pace.  
  
"Come on Chase. Pull yourself together." She instructed. "First things first, You have to get outta this outfit and then go back to dinner as if nothing happened."  
  
She stopped and straightened her back so she stood in full form in front of the mirror. She pointed her finger at her reflection menacingly. "Got that?" She asked. Satisfied her head and heart under stood, she smiled triumphantly. "Good."  
  
Cordelia walked back out into the restaurant and made a b-line for the foyer. Hopefully Angel wouldn't notice her leave.  
  
*  
  
Angel kicked himself mentally. 'God, she hates me!' he thought, and then argued his other point. 'Well, she *did* say she'd be back.'  
  
He kicked himself mentally again. Spilling his wine all over her! That was so stupid! To make matters worse, Gunn and the others joined him at the table.  
  
"Go away," Angel groaned.  
  
"Why? Your date was a disaster. I think you should just forget this and come to clubbing with us," Wesley suggested.  
  
Angel looked at them determinedly. "No, she said she'd be back. I'm waiting here,"  
  
"Strudel-pie…If she said she'd be back, then why is she leaving the restaurant?" Lorne asked and pointed to the figure exiting the restaurant.  
  
The group turned to catch a glimpse of Cordelia walking out the door in a hurry.  
  
'Oh god!' Angel thought, letting out a groan as his head hit the table. 'I blew it!'  
  
*  
  
Cordelia looked at herself in the mirror, the slinky black number that clung onto her curves was an excellent choice. Obviously, she had to change her shoes and lipstick shade…and of course the earrings, bracelet and necklace to match with the dress, but it was worth it.  
  
She cleared her throat as butterflies swarmed in her stomach. "Go away!" she told them. Cordelia always got butterflies before a big date…Wait…Hold up! Date? No…not even *going* there!  
  
Cordelia touched up the last of her makeup and glanced at the clothes strewn all over the bed. She had literally gone through all of her outfits; Angel must be waiting for her… unless he had gotten impatient and decided to leave.  
  
She shook the thought from her mind and pondered once more on whether she should go with the other black outfit…or maybe the blue evening gown…  
  
Cordelia nervously chewed on her nail, severely damaging the black nail varnish she had to apply for it to match her dress. She looked at the silver Gucci watch on her wrist. She had already taken 15 minutes!  
  
She decided to just keep what she was wearing now; maybe it wouldn't be for long anyway… 'No…not like that! BAD THOUGHTS, CORDY!' She mentally scolded as she left her room to wait for the elevator.  
  
*  
  
Angel finally agreed to leave for a club with Gunn, Wesley and Lorne, much to Gunn's delight, but Angel still insisted that he go and tell Cordelia. Maybe squeeze in one more attempt at an apology…  
  
What room was she in again? 108? No, that wasn't it, damn! Angel should have paid more attention to Cordelia's room number then her body. And he called himself a PI…109? Hmm… Sounded familiar… That was it!  
  
As he left his friends in the lounge area, Angel got into the elevator and rehearsed his speech. He was completely amazed. This was something that he had never ever had to do before, and frankly, he didn't like it.  
  
"Okay," he calmed himself down "I'm sorry for what happened at dinner, I understand…no…*realise* that you don't want to see me now. But…if you give me the chance…No that'll never work." He took another deep breath and started again. "I'm…" The doors opened before he could say anymore, and before him stood the radiant beauty that had left him twenty minutes earlier. He choked as she gave him a surprised smile.  
  
"What are you doing up here?" She asked, smoothing down her black dress. Angel followed the motion, before realising she was waiting for an answer.  
  
'Say something smooth' he told himself. "Waiting for you, of course." He smiled warmly. "A beautiful woman such as yourself shouldn't go unaccompanied." He added, offering his arm and stepping back further into the elevator with her.  
  
*  
  
Gunn stared at the elevator as the doors opened, hoping it was Angel. Instead an old couple came out. He sighed and slumped his shoulders for the 6th time. "Why does he take so long?" he asked Wesley impatiently.  
  
"He's been gone less than five minutes Charles," Wesley reasoned.  
  
Gunn shrugged as the set of doors of another elevator opened. He saw a glimpse of Angel. "Alright!" He called happily. "He's here, it's party time!"  
  
Gunn jumped up, rubbing his hands together in anticipation before he saw Cordelia come out with his best friend. Wesley and Lorne's eyes widened. Gunn was shocked into silence and he stood dumbfounded. When did the plans change? Or was this a really, *really* long goodbye? Although the thought appealed to him, Gunn knew it was not a possibility.  
  
"Wow, She must *really* like our Angel-muffin to forgive him after the red- wine incident." Lorne remarked as the couple walked towards them.  
  
Angel smiled at his friends. "Hey Guys! Look what I found."  
  
"Pleasure…again." Wes addressed Cordelia. Lorne smiled at her and nodded. Gunn, on the other hand, was less than impressed.  
  
"Hey…" He began then turned his attention back to Angel, "…I thought y'all was gonna come back alone."  
  
Angel chuckled nervously. Cordelia looked at him pointedly and unlinked her arm from his. "What did he mean? I thought you were coming to escort me back to dinner." She arched her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest, noticing Angel's discomfort. "Well…What did Charles mean?"  
  
"Charles? Girl…the name's Gunn. *Guh-uhn.*" The younger man pronounced. Then he also turned on Angel. "And what did *she* mean when she said you were gonna escort her back to dinner?"  
  
Angel felt as if he were two inches tall. Tonight was definitely not going according to plan. He shrugged defensively. "I…er…what I mean to say is…" He sighed when he realised he couldn't lie his way out of this. He turned to Cordelia. "I thought you weren't coming back when I saw you leave the restaurant…so I kinda told the guys I'd go clubbing with them instead. But I waited for you first…y'know, hoping you'd come back. But when you didn't…well, I left. But I said I had to go tell you first…just in case you might have accepted my apology or whatever. I didn't expect for you to actually join me again…But I'm more than glad you did." He turned back to Gunn. "Look…I know I said I'd come with you…but I didn't think she'd come back. And now that she has…I don't think I'm gonna join you guys tonight. I'm gonna stick with the original plan. Is that okay?"  
  
Gunn looked a tiny bit put out. "Yeah…fine. Whatever."  
  
Cordelia shook her head. "No…I don't want to impose…"  
  
"Nonsense." Wesley interrupted. "Angel was looking forward to…dinner. I think it only fair he share it with a beautiful young lady in a classy restaurant than with 3 rowdy men in a pub."  
  
Angel smiled at the Englishman. He was ultimately grateful. "I'll go out with you guys tomorrow, okay? Or maybe I'll catch up with you tonight…"  
  
"Cupcake…Take all the time in the world." Lorne spoke up, cutting his obligatory offer short. He winked at Cordelia. "We'll understand if you don't come home tonight at all."  
  
Angel grimaced. He friends could be sooo…annoying. "Thanks Lorne." He responded. He linked arms with Cordy once more and nodded at the group. "Guys. I'll see you 'round."  
  
*  
  
They stood outside her door in awkward silence. "I…uh…had a great time." She told him. He smiled back.  
  
"You can tell the truth you know." He responded. "I'll understand. I mean…my friends are a handful…and the wine…I'm sure I've wrecked your evening."  
  
Cordelia let out an exasperated sigh. "When are you gonna learn that I like your friends and I *didn't* care about the wine. I really had a great time."  
  
"Honest?"  
  
"Honest." She smiled brightly and Angel's heart did back flips. "I'll…uh…see you later."  
  
"Yeah…" He replied. "Thank you for a wonderful night." He turned to leave and had made it less than a meter down the hall before she called him.  
  
"Angel?" Cordy found herself asking after him. She couldn't resist this.  
  
"Yeah?" Angel turned back. She stepped forward and pressed her lips gently to his.  
  
"You're welcome." She whispered.  
  
And then she was gone.  
  
Cordelia had retreated into her room and shut the door the second she'd pulled away from the small kiss. Angel was left standing slightly stunned in the hall. His heart was not only doing back flips any more. Now it was running through an entire Gymnastics routine. And he still could not work out *why*.  
  
*~*~*~*The Beach*~*~*~*  
  
Tropical sun, golden sand, crystal clear water…Cordelia sighed. This was paradise. The part of her that was still five years old secretly imagined she was alone with her thoughts on a desert island…just relaxing.  
  
She smiled at her childish thoughts and placed her towel down on the sand, preparing to lie down and enjoy a peaceful tanning session…maybe even take a short nap. She lay on her back and closed her eyes. Sighing in contentment, Cordelia soaked in the warmth of the sun's rays.  
  
In a matter of minutes she was rudely engulfed in the shadow of a figure standing above her. She furrowed her brow, but did not open her eyes. "Excuse me…" She huffed. "Do you mind? You're in my sun." The figure didn't budge and she was starting to get cranky. Pulling her sunglasses on, she sat up and glared at the unwelcome visitor, getting ready to give them a piece of her mind. She stopped herself short the second she recognised them. "Angel?"  
  
"Cordelia…" He responded suavely. "Nice to see you too."  
  
She smiled. "Uh huh. You're still in my sun." 'And WOW!' She internally screamed, looking him over. 'Wish you'd walk around in just a pair of shorts more often.' She kept her external resolve calm and collected. "Join me?" She asked, gesturing to the sand beside her.  
  
'Don't mind if I do.' He thought, drinking the sight of her. 'Nice scrap of material…er…bikini you got there.' Smiling brightly, he set his towel out beside hers. "Thanks." Angel said and sat down beside the enchantress.  
  
Cordelia watched the grace of his movements as he sat. The way his muscles rippled just so…"Oh…You're going all red." She pointed out, forcing her mind to think of other things.  
  
"Oh…er…Sunburn?" Angel managed, hoping she wouldn't catch his slight flush. He'd been lost in thought…and was slightly sheepish at being jolted out of it…like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Needless to say, the thoughts weren't exactly something he'd want her knowing about…not yet anyhow…maybe he might have to *show* her sometime… A goofy smile crept towards the surface of his cool resolve and he forced it down.  
  
She hadn't caught his awkwardness. "Yeah…" She replied, gesturing upwards. "Sun."  
  
He heaved a sigh of relief. "Yeah…I wasn't able to apply any lotion to my back…and Gunn is a little hesitant about rubbing another man's back." He chuckled, and then paused. "Not that I even asked him to…"  
  
Cordelia raised her hand and stifled a laugh. "No judgement." He looked horrified.  
  
"No! I'm not…I mean…That's not what I…I like women!"  
  
It was at that moment she lost it. She burst into a fit of giggles. He wasn't impressed. She looked at his less-than-amused face and laughed even harder. Angel looked into her eyes and broke into a smile. Pretty soon he was chuckling along with her. After their laughing subsided, Cordelia fought to steady herself. Angel, on the other hand, seemed to sober up almost immediately…although he seemed to be fighting the urge to break back into it again.  
  
"So…umm…did you want me to…umm…make your back burn-proof?" Cordelia asked him. It took her a while to get the sentence out, as the other versions had sounded…dirtier. Sarcastic comments like 'Yeah, Cor…Ask him if you should lather his back up' had bounced around inside her head, along with images that she was *certain* couldn't be good. The safest choice had proven to be the one with the worst grammatical sense…but at least it had been clean.  
  
"Yeah…that'd be great." He replied, turning so that his back was directly in front of her. "Just one problem with that…I left my sunscreen back in my room."  
  
"No problem…I'll use mine." She said, popping open the cap on her bottle of lotion. Suddenly images that couldn't be good ran through her head. Cordelia decided to maintain conversation with him in the hopes that these thoughts would dissolve. "Plus…" She began, squeezing the thick substance onto his broad shoulders, "Once I'm done I want you to do me."  
  
It took her a few seconds to realise her slip. "No…I didn't mean…not *do* me…as in...I meant…sunscreen…not…oh God…" She rambled.  
  
Angel grinned and turned his head her way. "I was planning to."  
  
She blushed. '*That* was a good move Cordy…' She internally chided. 'You try to avoid those thoughts and *boom!* you go and *state* them…Bravo!' Swallowing, Cordelia placed the bottle back down next to her and started rubbing the lotion into Angel's muscled upper body. Soon enough, she'd picked up a rhythmic pattern and started to feel a little less uncomfortable. Gazing at him as she worked, Cordelia noted that Angel was actually quite pale. 'He mustn't get many sunlight stakeouts…' She thought. 'Poor guy…must be cooped up indoors a lot in his line of work.'  
  
"What are you thinking?" Angel's voice jolted her out of her much cleaner thoughts. He tried to turn to face her again. She'd been really quiet since that 'doing her' comment…and he was trying to gauge whether it was a good thing or a not-so-good thing.  
  
She smiled, even though he couldn't see. "I was just thinkin' how pasty you are."  
  
"Oh." Well…he hadn't exactly expected *that*. "I see…Hey…Do you think that's why Lorne keeps calling me different kinds of pastries?"  
  
She chuckled. "Honestly…I don't know…I doubt it…But it *might* have some relevance."  
  
He shrugged and leant into her massage…er…sunscreen appliance. He let out a small moan of pleasure as her hands swept deftly down his back. Now he was having an even harder time controlling his bad, bad thoughts…among other things. He swallowed and bit his lip when she pulled her hands away. "Hey…" He protested, not even realising that he was voicing his objection until it was too late. "Don't stop…"  
  
She smirked. "Why not?"  
  
"You…uh…You give a good massage." Not a complete lie…  
  
"Well…I've had lots of practise." She purred in response. She'd heard him moan before…She wanted to see how far she could play this before he went insane. She knew the effect she had on most men…and as far as she could tell…this one was no different.  
  
Angel stammered. "Uh-huh." No girl had *ever* made him want to beg for her touch. But then, no girl had ever fought against his…manly charms like this one either. Cordelia Chase was sooo intriguing and managed to successfully frazzle every single one of his senses. As much as he scolded himself for weakening around her…he couldn't help it. This woman was so completely different to every other that he'd ever met. She was a predator by nature, but a harmless lamb in personality. She was beautiful and intelligent. She was stylish and very, very sexy. Everything about her screamed…what had he called her last night? Exquisite. But no words could ever do her justice. She'd even made him turn poetic in thought…when she wasn't making him go crazy to have *all* of her.  
  
He swallowed again and turned to face her properly. "Aren't you gonna…you know…continue?" He asked, putting his well practised 'puppy dog eyes' into deployment.  
  
She looked into those eyes and, in that moment, would have agreed to do anything for him…until she realised he was playing the same game she used to. It was all an act to get the object of attraction into his pants…I mean…to do his bidding…er… 'Face it Cordy, Nothing you think about him at the moment is gonna sound very…good.'  
  
She shook her head. "No…Your back is done." She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "And I don't feel like giving any strange men massages right now."  
  
He pouted at her and looked down at his watch. She closed her eyes, the smile still plastered on her face and lay back down. Barely five seconds later she felt him tapping her on the shoulder. She sat back up and looked at him. He grinned at her. "Now?"  
  
"Ugh!" She dropped her head in her hands playfully. "You're just like my 3 year old cousin, y'know that?"  
  
"Does that mean you will?"  
  
Rolling her eyes at him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. Rubbing his back deliberately seductively, she waited for his reaction. "Mmm…" He sighed.  
  
Cordy grinned evilly. "You like that?" She asked softly.  
  
"Yeah…right there…"  
  
Now she went in for the kill. "I see…" She moved her hands back down towards the base of his spine and he straightened his back, tensing up. 'Bingo…' She thought, moving her hands away as quickly as possible. 'And *that's* for thinking you could flirt me into whatever you want.' She smirked, once again the champion.  
  
Angel's eyes flew open the instant he felt her touch disappear. "Uh…Cordelia?" He asked. No reply. He turned around but she was no longer there. "Great…" He muttered to himself, glancing in every direction possible for the devil-in-disguise. 'Well…at least you didn't get too carried away in your thoughts.' He commended himself as he stood up. Glancing downwards he thought, 'On second thoughts…Damn it!'  
  
Reddening, Angel dove towards his towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist. "Damn her!" He cursed. "She did that on purpose!" No woman had put him into a position like this for a long time. *He* was supposed to leave *them* needing more. Not the other way around. This was just…humiliating.  
  
As he turned to leave, a familiar voice stopped him. "What did I do on purpose?" She asked innocently.  
  
"Oh…you *know* perfectly well-"  
  
"No…I don't." She replied, watching him squirm. "Why don't you refresh my memory?"  
  
"You…with the back-rubbing…and you stopped and I…Lets just say you didn't leave me satisfied."  
  
Her eyes widened. "Oh…" A huge smug smile spread across her features. "I see." For the strangest reason her eyes seemed to be itching to wander down his body and settle just below his waistline…  
  
"Yo! Angel!" Gunn called from across the beach, causing Cordelia to look over at him.  
  
She heaved a sigh of relief as he ran over. 'Saved by the bell…yet again.'  
  
The black man smiled at the couple, determined to make sure his best friend had fun and forgot about spending so much time with this actress chick. She seemed nice enough…but there was something…He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Gunn had spent enough time as a PI to know that he should always follow his first instinct. And this one told him not to trust Angel's newest acquaintance. "Did you guys wanna join us in a friendly game of beach volleyball?" He asked.  
  
Angel glared at his friend in frustration. "Umm…not right now, okay? Maybe later."  
  
"Actually…" Cordy broke in still grinning stupidly like a teenage girl during a juicy gossip session, "I'd love to."  
  
Angel's glare shifted to Cordelia as Gunn stared at her in disbelief. "Really?" Both men found themselves asking.  
  
She nodded and linked her arm with Gunn, much to his surprise and Angel's obvious resentment. "Yeah…You don't mind do you?"  
  
Angel looked at her and sighed. "I was kinda hopin' that you'd-"  
  
She cut him off. "Not you. Gunn."  
  
"Oh…"  
  
Gunn didn't know what to say, so he answered the only way he knew how. "Mind?" He laughed, "Never…A pretty girl like you? Hah!"  
  
She laughed and walked with him to the volleyball court. Angel, however, was left standing in the one spot, growling at his friend and muttering obscenities under his breath as he decided to go for a nice cold swim to…er…unwind.  
  
*  
  
Angel followed them to the courts, where it seemed Wes and Lorne had made a few friends. One especially was Fred (Winifred), whom Wesley and Lorne were fighting to get on their own team. It was three a side.  
  
When Angel finally rejoined them, he was going to make sure Cordy was on his team, which Gunn didn't seem to care about. Maybe he had been wrong about this girl. Gunn was in the middle of a conversation with Cordelia. Angel tried not to growl and interrupted, suavely.  
  
"I decided to join after all…any room for me?" Cordelia turned away from Gunn and grinned.  
  
"Of course," she replied, taking his arm. As much as he loved that smile, he *hadn't* forgotten about the stint she'd pulled on the beach. "Great!". He'd have to get her back!  
  
It was Gunn, Angel and Cordelia against Lorne, Fred and Wesley.  
  
Angel was surprised to see how well Cordelia played volleyball. She could spike a ball far and her digs were high. Wesley's team didn't stand a chance. Angel wasn't too bad, he preferred hockey and basketball; but he wasn't complaining. Now all he had to do was get her back…  
  
Angel was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the volleyball heading straight for him or the shouts from Cordelia and Gunn. The ball hit him making him fall to the ground on his butt.  
  
"Ow!" he said rubbing his head. Cordelia came up to him, laughing herself silly.  
  
"Serves you right. Do you expect Gunn and I to do *all* the work here?" she asked, picking up the ball and getting back to the game.  
  
All of a sudden, Cordelia yelped in pain. She glared at Angel who was grinning like a schoolboy after he pinged her bikini top.  
  
"What are you? 12?" she asked angrily. Angel shrugged and walked past her, taking the ball of her. He served it high and Lorne set it back, as Angel went for the ball, Cordelia, still angry at him for pinging her top, jutted out her foot, tripping him up. Angel looked at her from the ground.  
  
"Hey, we're on the *same* team!" he reminded her. She bent over to pick up the ball.  
  
"Oops," she said, her face inches away from his, "I forgot," Angel growled quietly, vowing to get her back. No one got the last laugh except him.  
  
He tackled her and they both fell to a heap on the ground, much to the delight of several spectators. Gunn, however, was quickly becoming irritated with them sabotaging the game.  
  
"Guys!" he exclaimed, "Game?" he said. They stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.  
  
"Game? Oh…right…we're supposed to be playing.'" Angel stated…more so for his own personal reminder than anything else.  
  
They disentangled themselves and brushed themselves down. As they went back to the court, something caught Cordelia's eye. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, she took the bucket from the little boy nearby, managing an apology, and filled it with water, chasing after Angel.  
  
"You wouldn't dare," he said when he saw it.  
  
She cocked up an eyebrow. "What? You think I'm just a pretty face?"  
  
Wesley, Lorne and Fred stopped their game and watched with excitement.  
  
"I don't know what to think of a woman that takes a bucket from a little kid and uses it as a weapon against a defenceless-" Angel thought for a second, "Okay...maybe not defenceless..." he couldn't finish his sentence as he was covered head to toe with almost ice cold water.  
  
"Spasm," Cordelia giggled.  
  
'A spasm that would have helped right after your massage' he added mentally, charging after her again. She ran as fast as she could, tripping and hurting her ankle.  
  
Angel, who hadn't realised what had happened, had filled up the bucket again, and was standing over her.  
  
Cordelia's eyes widened in horror. "Angel…don't," she warned. Angel teasingly pretended to drop the bucket, but caught it before it fell. She shook her head. He paused in mid-air, noticing something was wrong.  
  
"Please Angel," she begged. He saw that she was gripping her ankle and she wasn't laughing anymore.  
  
"Cordy, are you okay?" he tossed the bucket aside and soaked the kid they had stolen it from in the first place. He crouched down beside her.  
  
"Well… no. My ankle… it hurts," he gingerly pried her fingers from her injury. Examining the swelling gently he noted, "I think it's just a sprain. Should be fine in a day or so."  
  
"I didn't know you were a doctor," Cordelia joked.  
  
"Basic first aid training," he told her seriously.  
  
"Right," she replied, still writhing from the immense pain. Angel scooped her up in his arms and carried her to a nearby sun bed. He carefully inspected her ankle. By now the others had walked over to see what was happening and if she was okay.  
  
"Cordelia, honey, are you okay?" Lorne asked crowding around her. Angel thought it as his duty to shoo them all away  
  
'My Cordelia,' he inwardly growled as he looked at the ankle again, "Wes…can you get an ice pack?" He then asked his friend who was also standing nearby.  
  
"Uh, sure…Fred? Would you care to join me?" Wesley asked Fred, Lorne gave him an evil eye.  
  
"Or Fred, babe, you can come and help *me* track down a few aspirins," Lorne slipped his hand around Fred's shoulders.  
  
"No! An ice pack. She needs an ice pack," Wesley argued.  
  
"Aspirin will help with the *pain*" Lorne glared in response. "She *needs* an aspirin."  
  
"What she *needs*" Cordelia pointed out, fighting her groan of pain. "Is to not be fussed over." Wesley and Lorne stood in silence, both mentally cursing each other. She turned her gaze back to Angel. "I'm fine, really" she told him.  
  
He looked back at her, his own gaze full of concern. "No you're not." He insisted. "I'm taking you to your room," If she didn't want to be fussed over, the least he could do was take her to her room. The injury looked too painful to walk on.  
  
"I am...and no…I can take myself," She argued, pushing away the little voice in her head that wanted to be picked up in his big strong arms and-  
  
"CORDY!" Angel repeated her name, interrupting her from her, as we've established, bad thoughts. She glared back up at him, determined to prove she was neither weal or in pain. After all, her room was only three floors up, by elevator.  
  
She got up, "See, look, I'm fine," she said as she took three steps before falling - directly into Angel's arms. "Ow, ok, maybe I *do* need some help," she admitted hopping. Angel took her in his arms again.  
  
He smiled victoriously. "Told you so," he said as they left the beach, Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Just take me to my room. I can get whatever I need from there,"  
  
The others watched as the two trailed off to Cordelia's room before moving at all. Pretty soon the conversation was about what had happened.  
  
Gunn was still holding the ball, "Who's up for some two on two action?" he asked. Maybe if those two were gone they could actually play a proper game.  
  
However, Wesley, Fred and Lorne had moved away from the court to the bar, not interested anymore. Gunn was left sulking angrily over the abandoned game. And he knew exactly who to blame…  
  
*  
  
Angel had taken Cordelia up to her room and tucked her in, helped her wash the sand off her feet and agreed to pick up her things that were still at the beach. He had also decided to surprise her with a drink or some flowers. He felt a little guilty over her accident. He was determined to make her feel as comfortable as possible.  
  
On his way back through the lobby, Gunn met up with him. "Yo, Angel man. We need to talk," he said seriously.  
  
"Can't it wait?" Angel asked him in response. "I wanted to get Cordelia a few things..."  
  
"That's kinda it Angel," Gunn replied his frustration evident. Angel stopped and looked at him.  
  
"Gunn…do you have a problem with Cordy?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, so you have *pet names* now?" Gunn scoffed. Angel glared at him.  
  
"What the hell is your problem?" Angel said, slipping into defence mode.  
  
"*My* problem?" Gunn repeated in disbelief. "Dude…You're the one with the problem."  
  
"I do *not* have a problem" Angel hissed, yearning to get out of this conversation ASAP.  
  
"Yes, you do. She goes by the name of Cordelia Chase," Angel glared at him, but he continued. "What's up with you?" He asked. "I've never seen you like this over a girl before."  
  
"That's because you don't know me as well as you think you do! You don't know me at all!" The second Angel had yelled it; he'd regretted it. "Gunn...I-"  
  
"You're right," Gunn said, his face set in stone "I don't know you...not any more. I never knew you could get this hyped up about a girl you only met…a *day* ago,"  
  
Angel forgot about the regret of what had come out of his mouth earlier. "You never knew me. Not when I was in love!" he said.  
  
"I've seen this once before, Angel. Remember?" Gunn angrily reminded him of his time with Buffy. "You may love her…but does *she* love you?" Angel looked at him for a moment, "Are you sure she doesn't think of you as some holiday romance to tell all her airhead friends about when she gets home?"  
  
"Look...I don't need this right now. Not from you," he informed his so- called best friend, attempting to leave.  
  
"Angel, I'm telling you man, you're in too deep. You're the one gonna get hurt!" Gunn warned. He hated to see his friend get in way over his head. He had seen it all before with Buffy. He didn't want to see it again.  
  
Something inside Angel snapped. "No…you know what? If you don't back off *you're* the one that's gonna get hurt!"  
  
"Is that a threat?" Gunn asked, a little shocked at Angel's dangerous shift in mood.  
  
"Make it what you will," Angel growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Just stay away from me right now."  
  
"Fine, you know what. If you're going to continue blowing your friends off for Cordelia, then I'm swapping places with Wes or Lorne. I'm not sharing a room with you." He looked Angel up and down. "Especially now you're *threatening* me."  
  
"Fine! Whatever! Some best friend you turn out to be!" Oh...crap. Didn't mean to say that. As Gunn turned to leave, Angel pulled him back, not wanting to leave this on a note like that. "Gunn..." He stated cautiously. "I...I didn't mean-"  
  
"I don't care what you meant! See you around!" Gunn yelled, before turning back, "Or *not*… if I can help it."  
  
Angel watched as his best friend walked off. He had screwed it up and for what? For a girl? And where *had* that love comment come from?  
  
He was confused, frustrated and quite depressed. 'Yep. This is turning out great' he thought as he went to the beach, picked up Cordelia's things and left for her room.  
  
*  
  
Cordelia noted the look of frustration on Angel's face as he entered the room. "Hey, there you are. I was beginning to get- what's wrong?" she asked.  
  
He looked back into her eyes and his heart did a backflip. 'What is wrong with me?' Shaking his head he replied, "Oh...nothing. Gunn just is being...Gunn." Angel finished, sitting down next to her.  
  
"How so? Is everything alright? Cos you look like you've had a blazing row," she pointed out.  
  
"Well...not in those words exactly..." He didn't want to tell her the truth. "We're just agreeing to disagree at the moment,"  
  
"Right. What are you agreeing to disagree about?" Cordelia asked, trying not to be too nosy.  
  
"Umm...you know...stuff." He shrugged. He didn't like lying to her, but really couldn't bear to tell her the truth. "Non-important stuff,"  
  
"Oh right. Don't you think you should go and, um, apologise?" she said.  
  
That did it. "Apologise?" He asked, accidentally raising his voice. "Why the hell should I *apologise*? I'm the one in the right! He had no right to..." He trailed off and looked away. "I think he should apologise to me. That's all,"  
  
Cordelia raised her hands in defence. "Ok, calm down. I'm sorry. I've been there before so I know how hard it is. All I'm saying, is that he's your best friend," she reminded him "He's only looking out for you,"  
  
Angel slumped his shoulders in defeat and looked her in the eye. "I know...But if you only knew...He's just never been like this before, y'know?"  
  
"Whatever it is, it must be important," Cordelia said. Angel thought for a moment. "Look," she continued, "How about *I* talk to Gunn?" Cordelia offered.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Uh…I don't think that would be a good idea," he replied.  
  
Cordelia looked puzzled. "Why not? He'll talk to me…I'm sure. And, hey, maybe he's calmed down a bit now."  
  
Angel looked away. "Maybe…" he muttered. Cordelia sensed that he wasn't going to let her go, so she made up another excuse.  
  
"Ok, can I get a soda?"  
  
"I'll get it for you." Angel offered, Cordelia shook her head, "You can't walk!" he told her.  
  
"Then I'll *limp*" Cordelia said, getting out of bed, "Plus, it'd be good exercise. It's not as bad as it was," Cordelia insisted. Angel somehow knew that Cordelia was a woman who always got her own way and knew that arguing with her would do no good. "I'll get you a coke or something. A thank you for a lovely dinner last night," she said. Angel sighed.  
  
"Fine, you can *try*, but if you're not back in five minutes, I'm coming after you," he said helping her up. She stumbled a little but, once regaining her balance, she managed to limp over to the door.  
  
"By the end of the day, this whole thing will have blown over," Cordelia promised smiling at Angel and leaving.  
  
He had a sinking suspicion she *wasn't* going for soda…and he didn't like it.  
  
*  
  
Cordelia knocked on the door or Angel and Gunn's room. She leaned against the wall to relieve her feet of the strain. The door opened and she straightened up, beaming.  
  
"Hey," she greeted.  
  
"Oh, it's you," Gunn said in an unfriendly tone, standing in front of the doorway  
  
Cordelia gulped. 'Oh boy. This is one tough cookie' she thought. "Can I come in?" She asked. Gunn let up and allowed her to come inside. She was stunned to see Gunn in the process of packing his things. There was obviously more to this than what Angel had told her. This was serious.  
  
"Going somewhere?" she asked. Gunn didn't reply but continued packing. "Gunn?" she prodded.  
  
"It's all your fault," Gunn finally snapped, taking Cordelia by surprise.  
  
"What is?" She asked, puzzled and wondering what she had done. Gunn didn't look up at her.  
  
"The fact I'm losing my best friend!"  
  
Her eyes widened. "Huh?" She dropped down into a chair at the same time. She didn't want to but her ankle was giving way, and she had the feeling she was gonna be here for a while. At least until this whole thing was sorted out.  
  
"I assume he told you about our fight, right?" he asked.  
  
"Right,"  
  
"Well...did he tell you it was about you?"  
  
"What? No! What...why were you fighting about *me* for?" she asked, mentally replaying all the events that had happened in the last hour or so.  
  
"Oh come on Girl! You're a player and he's fallin' for you! Any fool can see that!" he said, walking up to her to get a few of his things from the table beside her. "He, on the other hand, can't."  
  
Cordelia was speechless. A player? Where the hell did he get that idea?  
  
Gunn wasn't finished with her yet. "So don't play dumb Barbie, 'cos I know what you're up to."  
  
"I...er...I" Cordelia looked at him, "What am I up to?" she asked, anxious to know what he thought she was doing.  
  
"You're toying with a man's emotions! This dude's had it rough and you're up in here all 'Look at me I can have any man I want but I'd rather spend the entire time with you?' Please...Spare us all the trouble and-" Gunn's ranting was stopped by the presence of a furious Angel.  
  
"Stop it!" The older man ordered. Gunn stopped, getting back to packing, "How dare you!" Angel continued to yell. Gunn seemed undeterred by Angel's comment.  
  
"Yo! I'm just tellin' the truth man," Gunn replied. "It hurts sometimes,"  
  
Cordelia looked between the two, close to tears, "Look, uh, Angel, I'm gonna go," she said, darting out of the room. (As fast as her limping would allow her at any rate.)  
  
Angel wasn't sure what to do. Beat the crap out of Gunn or chase after Cordy. It was a really tough decision. "Cordy I-" he called out of the door, but she was already out of sight.  
  
"That proves my point. You're more interested in her welfare than your best friend," Gunn said.  
  
"I thought you said we weren't friends any more,"  
  
"Touché," Gunn muttered, sarcasm dripping from the word.  
  
"Gunn...if you haven't noticed I'm seriously interested in this one. And if you can't accept that-"  
  
"Angel! I know you're into her, but is she into you?" Gunn asked, stopping his packing and glaring back at his (once) friend.  
  
"I..." Angel couldn't reply. Dammit! Gunn had a point! "I haven't had a chance to find out 'cos someone keeps ruining the moment!"  
  
Lorne, running into the room, interrupted their argument. Out of breath, he looked at the two, realising something was wrong, "What happened here?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing. I was just leaving," Angel tossed back as he left. "Lorne, have you seen Cordy?" Angel asked.  
  
Lorne nodded. "I was rushing back here to see whether you had." Angel looked puzzled. Lorne sighed. "She pushed past me on her way down the hall…had tears streaming down her face and everything. I thought you might know what was up." He seemed to gaze off. "Poor thing. Seemed so…vulnerable…"  
  
Angel gave Gunn one last death stare and raced out the room. Lorne looked at the other man. "Okay…Will someone *please* tell me what the hell is going on?!"  
  
Gunn shrugged and went back to his bag. He wasn't in the mood for talking right now.  
  
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A/N- *Insane1*- Okay…do you know how hard it was to write the beach scene and keep it clean? Honestly…my 17-year-old (in less than a week! Go the Geminis! ^_^) hormones are working in hyper-drive lately and Mrs O suggests we send them to the beach. THE BEACH? With a half naked Angel (…yummm…No! Bad thoughts!) and a scantily clad Cordy…with lotion and rubbing and…? *Clears throat* We don't need to go there. Or rather…*I* don't need to go there. ^_^ If you can't tell from a majority of the scene, I had lots of trouble with maintaining the PG-13 rating there…lol…^_^ I think it kinda drove Mrs O crazy…hah! Now we can both be insane…lol…Oh yeah…please review! Chapter 5 is already underway and we need to know what you're thinking so far! Thanks 


	5. Snuggles

A/N *Insane1*- Well.what with the recent FF.N dilemmas and all.I don't think we're gonna hold it against you guys for not being able to review. I know that I have wanted to review a few fics out there but haven't been able to.And don't even get me started on the uploading inability! ^_^ Anyway.what's past is just that and I, for one, look forward to future reviews. You guys have been absolutely brilliant and I love getting your feedback! I'm sure Mrs O does as well. ^_^ So once u've read this chapter I urger you to say a little something to us about it. Love it? Hate it? Couldn't care less? Let us know. Thanks. Now.onto the brains of the operation.Mrs O!  
  
A/N *Mrs O*- Grrr argh! I've had the worse few weeks with FF.N buggering up! It wasn't too bad though; I actually went outside for once! My parents realised why they bought me a computer in the first place.so they could have some peace and quiet! Ah well! I like writing this chapter too, especially the dialogues. Insane1 and me had fun doing them. *Grins* ^_^ Sorry, memories of the conversations and us getting sidetracked envisioning Angel in- I'm not going to ruin it for you, but I swear it'll make you grin! ^_^. P.S: I'm not really the brains of this operation, but since it's a compliment, I'll take it! ^_^ We love feedback.we thrive on it.so review to keep your two favourite authors alive!  
  
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"Cordelia!" Angel called, turning the corner just in time to see the brunette beauty enter her room and close the door. He didn't hear everything his so-called best friend had said.but for some reason, he knew it couldn't have been good. Reaching room 109, Angel knocked on the door gently. "Cordelia." He called. No answer. "Cordy.I don't know what he said.but I'm so sorry. I don't know what to tell you.can we talk? Please?"  
  
Cordelia leant against the door in a state of shock. Was Gunn right? Was Angel actually falling for her? If it was true, she'd kick herself. This was supposed to be her 2 weeks of fun. Instead she was successfully attempting to ruin her upcoming marriage before it even started.  
  
And Angel? This situation made her feel even worse. She was toying with his emotions. This was another human being and she had been using him for her own pleasure, not really pausing to think of how it all might affect him.  
  
Should she answer the door? Should she talk with him? Her mind raced. This was not the vacation she'd intended on, that was for sure. She stood upright painfully, her ankle was throbbing from her brisk walk.er.limp from Angel's room and she didn't know how much longer she could hold herself up on it. Turning to face the door and biting her bottom lip in an attempt to ignore and hide the evidence of the pain, she took a deep breath and reached for the handle.  
  
Angel had just about given up hope. He'd been seriously interested in this girl, which was a strange concept for him, and his very own best friend had ruined it. Giving the door one last painstaking glance, he turned to walk back down the hall.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
He turned at her voice, his heart doing somersaults in his chest. She was actually going to talk to him. He began to walk towards her cautiously, as if any sudden movement would startle her and cause her to retreat. "Cordelia." He began softly, "I.I'm sorry. For whatever Gunn said. He didn't have any right to treat you that way. I'm totally ash-"  
  
By now he was standing directly in front of her and she reached a slender finger to his lips to silence him. "I know." She told him, sounding depressed and defeated. Gunn would *definitely* pay for this. Hurting his feelings was one thing.but hers? That was totally and completely- "But he was right."  
  
Angel's thoughts were shut down immediately. He was shocked. "I.he.Huh?"  
  
The tiniest smile crept onto her lips and he would have given the world to kiss her right then and there. But he didn't. Instead, he allowed her to explain where her absurd comment had come from. "He made a point Angel.I have to tell you." Her face contorted in pain and Angel watched as her ankle buckled beneath her. He lunged forward just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.  
  
"Cordy." He breathed, now completely concerned. "You okay?"  
  
She nodded and fought back the tears. Her ankle hurt really badly, but she was too stubborn to admit it. "Uh-huh." She tried to smile but it looked more like a wince. "I'm fine.I guess I kinda slipped. I'm all good." She tried to push herself out of his strong arms, and gingerly placed her injured foot back on the ground. A shockwave of pain raced up her body and she cried out.  
  
"Sure you are." Angel replied, his disbelief evident. "You must have done some extra damage when you raced back here. Come on.There's no way you're gonna be able to make it back into your room yourself." He swept her off her feet in one smooth motion, taking in the soft, sweet scent of her perfume as he did. He was officially in heaven.  
  
"Angel." Cordelia protested weakly, knowing he was right. She sighed; giving him the sign that she was surrendering her argument. Leaning against his chest as he struggled to open the door, she breathed in and the faint, lingering scent of his cologne filled her senses, making her feel all tingly inside. This time, however, Cordelia smiled at her thoughts. There was nothing smutty about them. She just felt.content.  
  
Was that wrong?  
  
Well.it was when she remembered her loving fiancé.but this feeling.It was so new. Not even Groo had made her feel this happy.and he *knew* how to make a girl happy. This was the first time Cordelia Chase had ever allowed herself to be swept off her feet (.pretty much literally at the moment.) by anyone she'd just met. It took her months to trust Groo half as much as she did Angel right now, and it had taken her even longer with Xander.but that hadn't turned out well, so it didn't count.  
  
Perhaps the reason she felt so comfortable with Angel was the fact that she wasn't serious. She didn't see a future with him. Well.she *hadn't* seen a future with him. She could with Groo.she still did.and it scared her. It proved that things were serious and it was deeper than she'd ever been before.it gave him an even stronger chance to break her heart and humiliate her.and that scared her. This thing with Angel.it was *her* holding all the cards. She knew it wasn't a big thing and she could go home to a man that loved her very, very much.  
  
'That doesn't make any sense Cordy.' Her mind told her. 'The fact is, you *are* scared of your future with Groo.but its not because he can hurt you and Angel can't. Angel can hurt you just as much.maybe more. And do you know why? Because you don't love Groo. You never have and you never can. You just don't feel the spark.and that makes you uncomfortable. That's what scares you. The fact that you can't admit to yourself that he's not the one.even though you'd give anything for him to be. But Angel.you feel the spark.' She bit down on her lip again as she realised everything all at once. She didn't want it to be true.but she knew it was. She'd tried to hide from this realisation for a while now, and it had finally caught up with her. She tried to shake the thoughts away, but her head was determined to have the last say in the matter. 'Why have you just been able to trust Angel like this.to feel so warm and fuzzy around him? You know the answer. You're falling in love with him. Of course you've never felt this way before.You've never been in love. You couldn't admit to loving Groo, not even when he proposed.because you couldn't lie to yourself.or to him. This feeling of contentment is part of love. Admit it Cordelia. You're falling for this guy. Don't let him slip away.' She swallowed and closed her eyes, subconsciously snuggling against Angel's chest while he closed the door and slowly walked her into her bedroom. 'This is love. You're finally in love.'  
  
"Cordelia."  
  
Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice. "Hmmm?" She said sleepily, trying to focus her gaze. He was sitting on the bed in front of her, leaning over her face ever so slightly.  
  
He smiled a lopsided smile. Her heart did backflips and one single thought kept running through her head. ('This is love. You're finally in love.') "Hey." He said, his voice thick with concern, compassion and laced with that lovey-dovey vibe Groo used to use. "I didn't mean to wake you-"  
  
"-I was asleep?"  
  
He chuckled. "I guess those painkillers *really* did knock you out then."  
  
She grinned sheepishly. "I guess." Inwardly she wondered 'Okay.when were there painkillers?'  
  
"How does your ankle feel now?" Angel asked, suddenly in total concern mode again. She'd seemed in so much pain last night that she couldn't really think properly. No matter how many times he'd asked her something, *anything*, she'd mumble incoherently. He'd spent about ten minutes watching the silent tears slip down her perfect face, which was wrinkled in pain, and decided to do something.*anything* to help. So he'd retrieved the box of painkillers that was sitting on her kitchen bench and had miraculously managed to get her to down a couple, assuring her that she'd feel better soon. Then she'd fallen asleep and he'd left her to rest while he gathered his thoughts.and some ice to stop the swelling. Not wanting to go back to his room last night, he'd curled up on the chair and drifted off. Once he'd woken up, he fetched some more ice and came in to check up on her. Now she was awake and he wanted to know if his 'mothering skills' had paid off.  
  
She smiled at him. "Oh.much less pain. Barely any." She told him and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Letting out a small gasp, she exclaimed, "I was out all night?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah.I slept on the couch.I hope you don't mind.It's just with the Gunn situation and-"  
  
She waved him off, suddenly very alert. "No! No problem." She sat herself up and moved to get out of bed. The second her foot hit the ground a new wave of pain ran through her and she yelped.  
  
Angel shook his head sympathetically. "I hate to say it, but you kinda worsened the extent of your sprain last night and you probably won't be able to walk around much.or at all. for the next day or so."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I'm so sorry." He blurted out. "Its all my fault. I mean, if I hadn't have- "  
  
She cut him short. "How? How is it your fault? Angel.these things happen. I don't think its anyone's fault."  
  
"But-"  
  
"But what? I don't want to hear it. It was an accident and I'll be fine. Plus." She grinned. "This gives me an excuse to get room service."  
  
"Well.then let me pay for it." He said, pushing the issue. "I mean.I still feel so awful I keep ruining things for you and-"  
  
"No!" She stopped him once again. "I told you, it's fine. And you will not be paying for anything. In fact, you will not be sticking around at all. You are going to go outside and enjoy your vacation. Got it?"  
  
"But I-"  
  
"Angel." She growled menacingly. "I'm fine. Go and enjoy your holiday." He looked torn, but she pointed for him to leave. "Out." She ordered.  
  
He slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine." He replied as he left. "But I'll be back to check up on you. If you need anything.anything at all.my cell number's right next to the phone." And with one last look at the girl, Angel walked out.  
  
*  
  
"Sir." The clerk behind the counter looked up at him like he was deranged. "Are you sure.What I mean to ask is.You want *these*? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but.you don't look like the type that would.erm. enjoy them."  
  
Angel looked down at the boy and smiled. "They're not really for me. They're for a lady friend." He replied.  
  
Immediately, the boy broke into a knowing grin and nodded. "Gotcha." Then proceeded to scan the items through for Angel.  
  
*  
  
"Knock Knock." Angel said, lightly tapping on the door as he entered Cordelia's room. "Anyone home?"  
  
"What?" Her voice called back. "Angel? What are you doing back here? I told you to get out and have fun.you said you would." He smiled down at her as he walked into her bedroom, but she glared up at him and pointed to the clock. "That was only 15 minutes ago!"  
  
He shrugged. "What can I say? I tried to have fun.but I couldn't knowing that you were up here all alone with no-one to share room service with." He extended his arms. "Plus.I come bearing gifts."  
  
Cordelia couldn't help breaking into laughter. When he looked confused and slightly hurt, she explained with a smile. "I'm sorry.I didn't mean to laugh.its just nobody's ever hired 'Chicken Run' out for me before."  
  
He looked a little sheepish. "I didn't know what kind of movies you liked.so I kinda tried to get one in each genre. See, we got 'Chicken Run'." He shuddered. He wasn't really a big fan of chickens. For the strangest reason, they gave him the wiggins. "Uh. ' Moulin Rouge'. 'Cruel Intentions'. 'House on Haunted Hill (2000 version)'. 'American Pie 1 and 2'. 'Lord of The Rings'.I think I got enough. And look.all sorts of sickeningly sweet goodies." He waggled popcorn, chocolate and lollies in front of her. "So.what do ya say? You gonna let me stay and veg out with you?"  
  
Inside, Cordelia was ecstatic. On the outside, she smiled at him and shifted so that he could sit on the bed with her while they watched. "Go on." She motioned towards the TV sitting on the wall opposite the bed. "Put one on." She reached for one of the bars of chocolate and greedily started unwrapping it.  
  
"Which one do you want to watch first?" Angel asked, marvelling at how cute she looked at that instant. She reminded him of a 5-year-old; full of energy, enthusiasm and a yearning for sugar.  
  
"Umm.How's 'Cruel Intentions' sounding to you?" She responded, popping a square of coconut rough into her mouth and grinning at him.  
  
"Sounds good." He replied. Sure, it was kinda a chick flick.but that didn't bother him. Not if he was watching it curled up next to her. 'Watch it O'Malley.wouldn't want another 'beach incident' now would we?' He pushed the tape into the VCR, pressed play, made his way back to the bed and settled up against the headrest, motioning for Cordy to hand him some chocolate.  
  
"Oohh." He said, pointing at the screen. "See that girl.Katherine? Well.my ex looks *just* like her.only blonde." Then he wanted to kick himself. 'That's right Liam.' He mentally scolded himself. 'Try to impress the pretty lady with tales of your *ex*.'  
  
"Hmm." Cordy sounded. "Was she just as slutty too?" She couldn't believe she'd just said that. Sure she was falling for the guy and all.but she was still engaged and she shouldn't be so.blunt and.well.jealous sounding. Plus, she was pretty sure that dissing his ex wasn't going to get her any points with him.  
  
"Well.in hindsight she might have been. I wasn't really Mr Pay-Attention to those sorts of things at the time. We had a.different kind of relationship. Totally mismatched and." He stopped himself. Not only was he bringing up his ex at a completely inconvenient (and incredibly stupid) moment, he was bringing up a past and painful memories that this vacation was supposed to rid him of. *And* he wasn't exactly giving himself a good appraisal either. "You know.we don't need to be talking about my ex." He forced a laugh. "It might wreck the mood." He joked, although meaning it at the same time.  
  
She laughed a little. "Cute." She told him. "Now watch."  
  
*  
  
The movies had been great. Maybe not so much the movies themselves. but more like the overall idea of watching the movies together. Angel grinned as Cordelia snuggled up against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and she sobbed and laughed at the same time.  
  
"God.you must think I'm pathetic." She chuckled and dabbed at her eyes. "I mean.I'm crying 'cos Nicole Kidman's just died.but we knew it was gonna happen. *and* this is like the fifth time I've seen it!"  
  
He laughed. "Yeah.but its still a moving story.well.it kinda was.if you're tuned into those emotions and stuff. But I am a, what do most women call us? That's it.I am a heartless man.and as we all know it takes a lot to make a man cry. Unless of course you count the Blinnikov World Ballet Corps performing Giselle .*that* was a highly emotional performance." He paused at the look of amusement on her face. "What?"  
  
"I'm sorry." She tried to stifle her laugh. "Its just.you don't look like the type of guy to like.or even go to.the ballet."  
  
He smirked. "I bet I don't look like the kinda guy that does a lot of things."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, one eyebrow rose.  
  
He winked at her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked suggestively in a playful manner.  
  
She hit him light-heartedly. "Actually.I don't think I do anymore."  
  
He laughed and prepared to insert the final movie. They'd left 'House on Haunted Hill' til last because it was best to watch the (so-called) scary ones in the dark. Psychologically, this was supposed to set the mood and make it seem more frightening. Angel was just looking forward to having Cordelia cuddle up against him when she got scared. He'd be 'Protecto Man' and she'd be the standard DID (Damsel in distress). All he had to do was wait.  
  
*  
  
"Oh God!" She yelled not even 10 minutes into the movie. "The cute camera man's gonna die!" She gripped onto Angel's arm in anticipation. "See! The rails on the ride just snapped! Oh God! I can't watch." She hid her eyes by doing as Angel had predicted and snuggling her face into his shoulder.  
  
He chuckled. "So.All the blood and guts before didn't faze you, but try to kill off a camera man in a crash and you shield your eyes?"  
  
"That's the plan."  
  
Angel sighed. "What if it was me instead of the camera man?"  
  
"Meh." She teased. "No biggy. He's really cute .and just look at the cheekbones."  
  
"Okay.Now I'm offended. What has that guy got that I don't?" She looked up at him and grinned. He shook his head. "Actually.forget I even asked."  
  
She laughed and hit him playfully.yet again. "Well.lets just watch the movie. Okay?" She turned towards the screen and watched for a few minutes, then found herself curled into Angel's shirt again. ".Or lets not." She said as she grimaced at the scene.  
  
Laughing, Angel placed his arm around her protectively. He didn't even realise he'd done it until she pulled herself even closer into him. He smirked to himself. Everything was going just the way he'd planned.  
  
* Angel's eyes flickered open. He drowsily looked around, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. There was a huge weight on his other one. He was sure he had a dead arm. He looked at Cordelia's sleeping face. She was curled up beside him, using his chest as a pillow, not that he minded. He smiled and looked at the time. It was almost three in the morning.  
  
He shuffled a bit and realised how uncomfortable he was, especially with Cordelia taking up most of the room. He sooo needed to get out of this position.  
  
He tried to move his arm first, but Cordelia seemed comfortable on it. 'Unlike me,' he thought. He decided to pick her head up and place it down on the pillow but as he tried, she stirred and protested. Angel groaned and he decided to wake her up instead.  
  
"Cordelia?" he whispered, nudging her. She didn't move, "Cordelia?" he tried again, a bit louder.  
  
"What?" she asked sleepily. Angel paused. She looked so cute when she was sleeping, her nose wrinkled up a little and she wore a small smile. A few stray strands of hair covered her face in all the right places.  
  
Angel didn't say anything more; he really didn't want to disturb her. He waited until she went back to sleep, before lying back on the bed. Who cares about as dead arm? He'd rather watch her sleeping.  
  
~*~*~*Three hours later*~*~*~ Cordelia woke up with a start. Her head felt so heavy. Had she been drinking? No, because when she had been drinking she usually saw purple spots in front of her. Definitely not a hangover.  
  
Cordelia got up, and moaned in pain as her back ached. She wondered why that was. It felt as if she had been lying down for ages. Her left foot lightly touched the ground before she yelped in pain and retracted it.  
  
"Okay, not trying that again," she said to herself. She remembered what had happened. The game, tripping and hurting her ankle, Angel's argument with Gunn, more pain, almost collapsing, Angel watching videos and having snacks, falling asleep.Oh my God!  
  
Cordelia tried to think back to what had happened. She remembered sleeping, there was sleeping. Was there snuggling? Yes, there was snuggling. Any, god- forbid, removal of clothing? She looked at what she was wearing, shorts and a tank top, she remembered putting those on yesterday. She looked around. Angel wasn't there.  
  
She felt relieved, but at the same time disappointed. She had looked forward to seeing Angel. She never really got a chance to say thank-you for what he had done. Defending her against his best friend and spending yesterday cooped up inside her hotel room, sacrificing his holiday.  
  
Cordelia smiled as she attempted to get up again. Despite the pain, she needed a shower. She was a shower-a-day gal and she felt all achy and icky. 'What I need is some lavender bubble bath,' she thought to herself. Whenever she was in the mood for relaxing, a bath full of bubble was the way to do it. Mel had taught her that.  
  
'Mental note to self - go to the internet café and email Mel, just to let her know I'm okay. But also refrain from telling her about Angel, there's no need for that,' she thought to herself again as she limped to the bathroom.  
  
She pushed the door open and limped in. Strangely the shower was running. Without a second thought, she pulled back the curtain. She froze upon seeing the very naked Angel in the middle of a shower. He looked at her, stunned and becoming more embarrassed by the millisecond.  
  
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I thought you were gone!" she explained as she quickly came back to her senses and shut the curtain, mumbling her apologies and limping out of there as fast as she could, and shut the door behind her. Once she was outside the bathroom, she leant against the door and found herself grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Cordy!" Angel exclaimed, grabbing for a towel as he turned the faucet off, "What are you doing walking around?" he half stuttered-half shouted through the door.  
  
"It's my room! I was going to have a shower," she responded, trying to get the appealing images of Angel out of her head. It wasn't working.  
  
"Erm, sorry. I...well, you were asleep," Angel hastily explained. Cordelia nodded, before thinking of something.  
  
"Yeah, about that.I didn't.drool on you.did I?" She asked.  
  
Angel smiled to himself. "No, you didn't, why?" he asked as he slipped on his top.  
  
Cordelia, satisfied she hadn't completely humiliated herself, dismissed the conversation. "I'm sorry. for walking in on you like that," she apologised. 'Yeah.sorry I didn't stay longer.' A goofy smile crawled back onto her lips and she fought to keep control of her thoughts. 'Cordelia.ENGAGED!'  
  
He shook his head stupidly, considering the fact that she couldn't see him as she was on the other side of a closed door. "No, it's my fault, I shouldn't have been invading your shower. I'll be gone in a couple of minutes. I'm going to meet Gunn,"  
  
"Is that a good thing?" Cordelia asked hobbling over to the bed again and waiting for Angel to emerge.  
  
Angel zipped up his trousers and quickly ran his fingers through his hair. There was no gel in the bathroom so he had to make do with a comb over. "Yeah, I sort of realised that the only way we were going to sort out our problems was if I went there first," He explained as he exited the bathroom.  
  
Cordelia looked up. It was funny seeing Angel with clothes on, especially after what she had just seen. 'CORDY!' Her mind snapped again. She shook her head slightly, but it had no effect.  
  
"The bathroom's free," he said. She nodded and smiled, partly because she was thinking of him in the shower again.  
  
"Thanks," she said, still smiling. They stood awkwardly for a minute, not knowing what to say, "So.I'll be going in the shower." She smiled, pointedly adding, ".using the *lock* this time".  
  
Angel actually blushed. "Sorry about that. It was the last time, I promise," he said. She shook her head violently, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Or not." He chuckled, stopping himself from making a sly come on in his usual style.  
  
"No! Not like that!" This was her cue to blush. "I.I meant it was no problem.In the hassle department. It's really my fault. I should have knocked," she thought for a minute, "Even though I had no idea you were in there, but.I should have heard the shower running," she said.  
  
Angel smiled. "I'd better get going." He looked into her eyes, "I'll see you later, yeah?" he asked hopefully. Cordelia nodded as she got up and almost fell. "Do you need help in the bathroom?" He cringed in embarrassment. "I mean, getting into the shower," Cringed again. "Well.not exactly getting *in*. I mean, just cause you saw me in the buff doesn't mean I should see you in the.I'm leaving now," He headed for the door, leaving Cordelia grinning again at his goofiness. He stopped and turned, "You don't need help do you? Getting into the bathroom? Y'know, your ankle and all," Cordelia shook her head.  
  
"No, I don't," she replied, "But thank you.for everything you've done," she elaborated.  
  
Angel gave her a nod and another smile. "Anytime. Do you want me to come up and check on you? You know, bring you breakfast,"  
  
"I'll order room service. You go and make up with Gunn," she told him. He nodded once more and left with a 'bye.' Cordelia stood in the doorway of the bathroom, still grinning. Angel was so sweet, caring for her like that. Groo wouldn't do something like that.She frowned slightly.He'd want to, but the man barely got away from his work these days. And she wouldn't feel as comfortable with him like this. She found herself chuckling.and the shower bit? Hmm. The grin on her face broadened as she pondered the subject.  
  
*  
  
Angel rehearsed everything he was going to say twice in his head. He would have to apologise first, he knew how difficult it was for Gunn to admit he was wrong. But he was going to take everything back if Gunn didn't admit his own fault. Angel sighed as he knocked on the door and waited but no answer came.  
  
Angel knocked again, "Gunn?" he called  
  
"What?" Gunn threw his hands up in frustration, even though Angel couldn't see him.  
  
"Gunn, can I come in?" Angel ventured after hearing the outburst.  
  
"And if I say no?" came the reply. Angel sighed, Gunn could be so difficult.  
  
"Then I'll beat it down! Now let me in!" Angel shouted. 'Great going Angel,' he thought sarcastically, 'Start the apology with a threat.' Angel growled at his thoughts, 'He started it,' he tried to reason, 'Therefore.It was still a bad move.'  
  
With a sigh the young black man walked to the door and opened it, still not budging to let his ex-best friend in. He raised his eyebrows. "Talk" he demanded.  
  
Angel looked at him. "First, let me in," he said firmly.  
  
Gunn stood his ground. "Look, if you have something to say, you say it now. Otherwise you can leave," he told him.  
  
"Look, this is *my* room too!" Angel responded.  
  
"Gee...and I thought you'd moved into Cordy's," Gunn threw back.  
  
Angel tried to think of something to get him with. "I thought you were moving out," Angel finally retorted. Gunn looked at the floor, realising he hadn't actually moved out even though he had made a big deal out of it.  
  
"I changed my mind when you didn't come home," Gunn articulated. 'Home? Why the hell did I say that?' he thought to himself.  
  
The phrase didn't slip by unnoticed. "Man, we sound like an old married couple," Angel joked, smiling a little.  
  
Gunn also cracked a smile. "And how I *love* being married to you," He teased for a second, forgetting he was angry with the man before him. He sobered almost immediately. "You still ain't coming in,"  
  
"Gunn...I want to talk to you," Angel reminded him.  
  
Gunn crossed his arms over his chest. "Then *talk*! I'm listening,"  
  
"I'm not talking in the hall!" Angel informed him.  
  
"Fine." Gunn said and began to close the door. "Guess you're not serious then,"  
  
Angel leant forward and held it open. "Gunn," He tried not to sound as if he was threatening the man, "We need to talk about your problem,"  
  
"*My* Problem?" Gunn yelled, pulling the door open and causing Angel to stumble. "You mean *your* problem?!"  
  
"Hey! I don't have a problem! You do!" Angel said managing to get in the room, "Just *what* is wrong with Cordelia?" he asked.  
  
"She's not trustworthy, *that's* what!"  
  
"What?" Angel questioned. "How do you know all this?"  
  
"I just have this feeling..."  
  
Angel almost laughed. "A feeling? You're basing all of these accusations on a *feeling*?"  
  
"As a PI I've learned to trust my instincts." He looked his friend in the eyes. "And Angel-" he began.  
  
"Hey! I'm a PI too! I can use my own instincts-"  
  
"To what? Work out whether she wants to be on top or-" Gunn knew he had gone too far. He stopped himself and tried to calm down. "Look...Angel...all I'm saying is your *instincts* are a little clouded right now and-"  
  
"Gunn." The older man interrupted, a bit closer to losing his temper. "I happen to like Cordelia, and if you're jealous-"  
  
"Jealous?" The younger man scoffed. "Me? Of you?" He laughed coldly. "Oh yeah...'cos I *really* want the Barbie..."  
  
"Cordelia is *not* a Barbie!" Angel defended.  
  
"Sure she isn't..." Gunn said sardonically. "And I'm the Queen of Sheba."  
  
"Gunn..." Angel warned, "She's not like the others,"  
  
"What others?" The man in question argued. "You mean the hooker and the school girl?" 'Damn,' He thought. 'Shouldn't have said that,'  
  
Angel glared at him, "I'm going to forget you said that...*after* I beat the crap out of you." He threatened his former best friend through clenched teeth. Gunn knew that Darla and Buffy were especially sensitive subjects to raise. They were something he wanted to move on from and forget about. Gunn knew that as well.so lashing out like that was more than low.  
  
"Look..." Gunn said, holding up his hands in defeat. "I didn't mean that..."  
  
"Like Hell you didn't,"  
  
"But I'm still worried-"  
  
"Look, we're working backwards here. Why can't I just spend time with Cordelia? I spend enough time with *you*!"  
  
"And *that* makes me feel special (!)" Gunn responded, starting to calm down a little. Angel smiled a tiny bit. Gunn smiled back. Their sense of humours were returning, which meant it was safe to try to reason again. "I just don't want to see you get all broody again. And I really don't trust this girl,"  
  
"But I do. Just let me make my own. 'mistakes'" Angel replied, adding inverted commas in his head so he didn't upset Gunn.  
  
Gunn still wasn't impressed. "Angel...just be careful on this one...I mean it."  
  
"I will, Gunn. But I'm telling you; you've got it all wrong. Cordelia's sweet, charming and genuine. I really like her,"  
  
The young black man sighed and nodded, still unsure of the woman in question. "Okay...Angel...I'm just makin' sure I got your back, y'know?"  
  
"Yeah, I know," Angel said shaking hands with his now renewed best friend, "Just do me a favour, apologise to Cordy. She was really upset,"  
  
Gunn snarled inwardly, but forced a smile. "Sure...I'll...talk to her."  
  
Angel nodded and was about to turn away, but looked back at Gunn, "Oh...and play nice or I'll be coming back," Angel warned. He knew that Gunn wouldn't back down so easily. Gunn nodded slightly and Angel smiled. "I'm glad we worked this out,"  
  
"Me too. But if things don't work out.you ain't gettin' no sympathy from me," Gunn told him.  
  
"I know, but I have a good feeling about this one," Angel confided. "I really do." He sighed, catching sight of his hair in the mirror. "Now. I *need* my gel," Angel said and wandered into the bathroom for his beloved hair products.  
  
As he watched Angel walk into the bathroom Gunn smirked to himself. He was gonna get to the bottom of this whole 'Cordelia' scenario whether Angel approved or not. But first.he had a few loose ends to tie up.  
  
****************************** 


	6. Plans

A/N *Insane1*- Heys guys! Here's chapter 6. Finally! *smirks at Mrs O* No..Honestly we've both had heaps of work, and I had the Queensland version of the SATs to contend with..I swear school is evil! But it's over and chapter 6 is here for your enjoyment. This chapter, to me, isn't really a big action type chapter..more like a progression piece, setting you up for chapter 7 which, I'll have you know, is gonna be up really really soon. We've actually written most of it already. But I'm not giving anything away..aaaww damnit. Already did. Mrs O..Gag me! *Mrs O complies* *muffled* Thank-you  
  
A/N *Mrs O*- Yup, what Insane1 said. We both had HEAPS of work. Chapter 7 will be good cos this fic is starting to go places. It's quite funny cos we've literally written most of the fic and it seems never ending. See, I'm ranting. Just ignore me and go to the fic.and then press the review button. :D  
  
***************************  
  
Cordelia brushed her short highlighted brown hair as she leant against the dresser to support her. Her ankle was feeling much better...well, that may have been the two painkillers she'd taken shortly after emerging from the bathroom. Anyway, she was sure that Angel had helped the healing process by staying with her all day and his..erm..shower scene that she had just witnessed not half an hour ago.  
  
Cordelia smiled to herself as she got herself lost in her daydream. A sharp knock on the door snapped her out of her stupor. Cordy quickly checked her hair, wondering whether it was Angel on the other side.  
  
"Just a minute!" She called as she limped over to the door. She opened it and was surprised to see Gunn standing there...not Angel.  
  
"Hey" he said obviously not very pleased to see her, but he tried to put a little 'umph' into it.  
  
Cordy was a little shocked to say the least. "Hi..." She managed to reply uneasily.  
  
"Can I come in?" he asked, trying to get things moving.  
  
Cordelia nodded slowly, aware of the fact that she couldn't hold her weight any longer for risk of hurting her ankle even further. "Sure..." She said finally, still unsure of why he was here. "Make yourself at home." She took a step back and gestured for him to enter.  
  
Gunn strolled in, briefly took in his surroundings and stopped in the middle of the room, turning to look back at her.  
  
"I suppose you have a reason for being here." Cordy added, as she watched the young man enter. She closed the door behind her then turned back to look at him, opting to lean against the counter and lifting her foot from the ground as she awaited his explanation.  
  
"Yeah." Gunn responded. "Angel came to see me." There. That got her attention.  
  
Cordelia clearly hesitated at mention of her new found friend's name. "I see...And you're here again because..?" She asked, that not-so-subtle hint of Queen C emerging in her tone. She forced herself to calm down. She didn't like Gunn much after what he had said to her, but she was willing to make an effort.. especially if it meant she'd see Angel again.  
  
'Woah! Wait up!' Her conscience hissed. 'Cordelia..You're doing it again! Still ENGAGED to GROO, *remember*? Yes, you want to be with Angel..but do NOT cheat on your fiancé! Wait until you can talk to Groo and THEN chase after this guy.'  
  
Gunn looked at her, unaware of her internal rambling, and tried to look apologetic. "I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday. I'm sorry if I upset you..I was completely out of line." He said quickly and with as much feeling as he could possibly muster. However it was still completely obvious that he wasn't there on his own accord.  
  
Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh..." She began skeptically. "And *talking* to Angel made you figure this out?"  
  
"Yes. It did. He likes you." Gunn answered, hoping this wouldn't take much longer.  
  
Cordelia wasn't impressed. "That made no difference to you yesterday." She bit at him. "In fact, I think it was *because* he liked me you got pissed off." She stopped and gave him a second to reply, but when he didn't she snarled, "Am I wrong?"  
  
Gunn sighed. Boy, this chick was hard to crack.. "Look, I was outta line. I was angry 'cos I thought you were tryin' to take my best friend away. He's been hurt a lot. I didn't want to see it happen again. Believe it or not, Cordelia, I'm looking out for him." He told her bluntly, getting more agitated by the minute.  
  
Cordelia didn't know what to think. She could understand what he was feeling, she really, truly could..but she still wasn't convinced. He'd been sooo awful to her...although she *could* understand why. He was looking out for a friend.  
  
"I guess..." She began, starting to sound defeated. "I guess I should apologise as well. I mean, I could have reacted differently yesterday..." she offered, trying to make the peace. After all, he *had* come to apologise himself.  
  
"Yeah." Gunn agreed, achieving a quick look from Cordelia. There was an awkward silence before he noticed her reluctance to place her foot on the ground. He motioned towards it. "How's your ankle?"  
  
"Oh..." She chuckled lightly. "It's getting better...Thanks."  
  
"I'm sorry for making it worse," Gunn added sincerely. Another small silence passed between them. He looked around at the furniture. A double bed and a chair caught his eye. He sighed, "So, Angel stayed here all yesterday?" She nodded and he looked around again. The bed still hadn't been made and the TV was positioned just so.. "What did you guys do?" He asked, before realising he didn't really want to know if they got..er..intimate.  
  
"Yeah..." Cordelia smiled. "He was sooo sweet. He brought me movies and lots of sugar filled goodness." She stopped and marveled at the wrongness of that sentence.  
  
"He's a good guy," Gunn said, trying to make her realise that if she did anything to hurt him...he'd-  
  
"He is." She agreed. "I can understand you not wanting to see him get hurt."  
  
Gunn nodded in agreement, glad that they were both on the same wavelength. "Yeah..well..I didn't want him to go through all that brooding again," He added, remembering that time with Darla...and Buffy...and of course there was that time when Buffy and Darla got in that fight...  
  
"He looks like the type that would brood. He's got that kind of forehead, y'know?" She smiled. Gunn was really quite sweet. She had totally misjudged him. Here she was thinking he was being a jerk for no reason, when he was just looking out for his best friend. Of course she was still hurt by his comments, but it had all been a big misinterpretation..He'd misjudged her as well. The situation was really quite entertaining now she thought of it.  
  
Gunn nodded, "Oh yeah! you should have seen it when he broke up with Buffy! Wow! He did some MAJOR brooding then..." He stopped, wondering if Angel really wanted him to go into detail about his past girlfriends.  
  
Cordelia giggled at the older man's sudden awkwardness. "Hey...did you want something to drink?" She asked, deciding it would be best for them both if she changed the subject.  
  
Gunn was actually tempted, but then realised that he didn't want to be all chummy with Cordelia just yet. After all, Angel had said *apologise*, not *make friends*. Plus, he had a job to do. "Uh...nah, I'd better get going. I have...stuff to do," Gunn said as he started to leave. He needed to see if this girl was for real...and he knew exactly the way to do it.  
  
~*~*Breakfast*~*~  
  
Later that morning, a much happier Angel sat at the breakfast table with Gunn, Lorne, Fred and Wesley. They had an array of foods in front of them, although most of it ended up on Fred's plate.  
  
'This is great,' Gunn contemplated with joy. 'Me and Angel, back to bein' friends, just like usual.' He smiled to himself. Angel hadn't said a word about *her*. 'No Cordelia' Gunn thought with glee as he put more Fruit Loops in his bowl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure enter the hall.  
  
"Cordy" Angel called as he spied her. Gunn cursed at his cereal. Cordy walked over and looked at the gang.  
  
"Angel..Hey." She greeted him happily, then looked at everyone else. "Hi..." The actress chirped with a wave. They all said hello, except Fred, who's mouth was currently full of waffles.  
  
"Hey.." Angel replied, then half scowled at her, pointing towards her feet. "What's with the walking on your ankle?"  
  
Cordy looked down and blushed. The shower had made it feel better. Plus the several painkillers she had taken had helped a lot. "Its better now...I promise" She grinned at him with a dazzling smile.  
  
Angel nodded a little sceptically before grinning at her. Gunn looked at his cereal, rolling his eyes at it  
  
"Care to join us, Cupcake?" Lorne asked  
  
Cordelia shook her head modestly. "Oh..no....I don't want to impose-" "Sure you do..." Angel said, cutting her off and pulling out a chair from an empty table.  
  
"There's plenty of room," Wesley added, ignoring the glares Gunn was giving him, "Plus...you're not imposing. Is she guys?"  
  
Everyone agreed she wasn't, so Gunn nodded slightly as well. "Sure girl..." He forced himself to add. "You know you're welcome here."  
  
Cordy flashed a grin. "Well, if you're sure...and if there's any food left after Fred's done with it.." She added in jest. Fred blushed at the comment, "Gosh, honey, how do you stay so thin?" Cordelia asked as she reached for the toast. "I have to work out for an hour to work off half a stone! How much do you work out?"  
  
"Work out?" Fred replied her mouth full of her 5th waffle. "I'm s'posed to exersise?" The whole table laughed at Fred's reply.  
  
Cordelia's eyes widened. "I hate you." She threw back playfully.  
  
Fred smiled. She'd made a new friend.  
  
Cordelia felt Angel's knee against her leg and realised that they were sitting *very* close. Any closer and she'd be sitting on his lap. 'Cordelia! Do NOT go there!' She cleared her throat. "Uh....Angel..Can you..ummm....please..erm..pass the OJ?" Angel complied and she poured some out in her glass.  
  
She tried to concentrate on her food, or the others around her. Anything to keep her mind off Angel 'cos when she thought of angel she thought of the shower thing and when she thought of the shower thing she-  
  
"So, what are you going to do today?" Gunn asked Cordelia, catching her by surprise.  
  
"I was planning on emailing my little sister...but she's not that little..." She grinned and decided to explain. This was good. There was absolutely no Angel in this story. "She's 16 and is the reason I'm here...I got to tell her how great it is and thank her."  
  
"Aww, you have a little sister. that's nice..." Gunn said, giving a 'she- didn't-tell-us-that-so-what-else-is-she-hiding' look to Angel, who didn't see it as he was too busy making goo-goo eyes at Cordelia.  
  
"Yeah...we're really close.... Except for when she steals my clothes!" Cordelia half joked "And when she reads my diary...." Cordelia trailed off and thought for a beat. "I wonder if I hid that." She wondered out loud. "Oh, right. Never mind. I brought that with me."  
  
"You still keep a diary?" Fred asked, swallowing the last of her waffles and moving for pancakes. "I used to...but I ended up fillin' it with mathematical formulas and stuff like that..."  
  
"Oh yeah! I couldn't live without it! I've got a whole load of them back home. I keep them locked up in a chest under my bed at my parent's house, but my sister *still* manages to get in there!" Cordelia laughed remembering the dozens of times she's found her sister with her diary.  
  
"So, are you gonna go down to the beach?" Angel asked the group, mainly Cordelia though. Lorne and Wes waited for Fred's reply before answering.  
  
"Um, well, I'm looking forward to playing volleyball in the pool" Fred suggested.  
  
"So am I!" Lorne and Wesley responded in unison, then glared at each other.  
  
"Sounds like fun.." Angel began, then paused, looking at Cordelia with that intense gaze of his. "How's your ankle? Do you want to play...cos if you don't I'll..."  
  
"Oh, I am soooo in!" Cordelia answered, cutting Angel off. "My team *always* wins." She confessed with a smirk, before realising Angel was about to say something. "Why, what were you going to do?" She asked him.  
  
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, uh...I was going to go...sight seeing,"  
  
"Sight seeing?" Gunn scoffed, "Since when did *you* go sight seeing?"  
  
Angel glared at his friend. "Since NOW."  
  
Cordelia nudged him, "I didn't know you were into that. But it figures, with you being into ballet and stuff."  
  
Angel looked horrified. Gunn and the others didn't know about that. "Uh..." he choked on his waffles. He glanced at their smirking faces. "Well, you know. I went with the guys. They made me go, didn't you?"  
  
Fred looked at Lorne and Wesley who were shaking their heads furiously. "Awww, you guys. You really went to the ballet?" She asked happily. "I love the ballet!"  
  
Lorne and Wesley smiled, both storing the information for later. Wesley leant towards her, much to Lorne's disapproval. "Well, you know, the Nutcracker is a classic..."  
  
Cordelia shook her head as the men of the table looked at them quizzically. "Angel was just saying-"  
  
Angel cut her short. "It was nothing...Anyone want more waffles?"  
  
Fred greedily accepted. But the others saw his question for what it really was- a chance to switch the topic.  
  
"So, I was thinking.." Angel continued. "..The Rocks de Garcia. I want to go there."  
  
"Nuh-uh dude..." Gunn interjected. "You ain't getting' off the hook that easily. You like the ballet! My man's a Queen!"  
  
Angel looked mortified and looked around to make sure that nobody else had heard the black man's outburst. "Keep it down and I am not!" He kicked Gunn under the table. "Anyone want to go rock climbing on the Rocks de Garcia?" He changed the subject yet again.  
  
"I would love to, but my ankle." Cordelia mentioned, suddenly feeling the pain come up again. "Anyway...we were talking about the ballet." She added, joining Gunn's crusade.  
  
"That was a long time ago," The now broody one protested.  
  
Gunn looked at him and smirked. "I don't seem to remember the ballet. What exactly did we see?" Angel sun k in his chair and looked around again, Lorne and Wesley busy impressing Fred with their knowledge of the Nutcracker  
  
"*We* didn't see anything. I thought I made it clear that I went a long time ago and-"  
  
"No...you said you went with the guys." Cordelia reminded him.  
  
"Darla made me go!" he said quickly, "It was me and Darla" Angel quickly covered up, quite happy with his response, even though he didn't want to talk about his ex.  
  
"What?" Lorne's ears seemed to prick up. "I thought you said she was classless. Classless people generally don't go to the ballet..."  
  
"Or was it Buffy....?" Lorne asked, trying to find a reasonable explanation. He looked at Angel. "Maybe you got her mixed up with Darla?"  
  
Angel shot him a look. Not another ex! "It could have been Buffy, I can't remember..."  
  
"Buffy? The other ex, right?" Cordelia guessed  
  
"Yeah..."Gunn didn't sound convinced at that either. "Cos you know teenagers LOVE the ballet." He tossed back sarcastically.  
  
Cordy's eyes widened. "You went out with a teenager?"  
  
Angel squirmed even further. "Thanks Gunn" he muttered, before turning back to look at Cordelia again, "She was 18!"  
  
"16 when you first went out with her!" Gunn pointed out.  
  
"She was at the time...she's like 22 now!" Angel reassured. "And we never..." he searched for the words, complete with nervous hand movements. "Not until she.." He stopped, realising the conversation was going downhill. "It was completely legal." "I'm 22!" Cordelia said, still stuck on that piece of information. "You went out with someone who was 16? My sister is 16!"  
  
"But *I* was younger too!" Angel insisted.  
  
"How did you leave her again?" Gunn asked slyly. "Oh right...you just walked away!" He really wasn't helping..of course that was the plan.  
  
"You just walked away?" Cordelia asked in disbelief. How could someone as charming as Angel, just walk away from a girl like that? An emotional teenager especially?  
  
"And told her to stop being such a spoilt brat.." Gunn 'helpfully' interrupted.  
  
Angel kicked his friend again. "No..." He turned to Cordy... "Well...yeah...but...It wasn't like that!" She looked very non-happy. The truth was, Angel had left Buffy because he was no good for her.  
  
He'd outgrown her and, although he had cared for her, they were not meant to be. After the first time they'd made love, the relationship had started to fall apart. She wasn't ready for that type of commitment and he needed someone older. Someone that could go out with him and legally drink and party with his friends. But he'd stayed until she graduated.  
  
When he told her it was better if they went their separate ways, she'd cried. She'd even said she'd not go to college if it meant being with him. With a small smile, Angel had persuaded her not to ruin her future as he knew that he wasn't a favourite among her friends or her mother.  
  
They'd disapproved of the relationship. In fact, everyone had.  
  
He seen Buffy a couple of times since then, but they weren't happy moments. Especially when she had childishly paraded her new boyfriend in front of him. However he'd moved on and hoped that she had as well.  
  
Now Buffy was a distant memory..along with Darla..and he didn't really appreciate his friends' attempts at bringing them up.  
  
"How did he leave Darla then. I guess this was pre-Buffy.." Cordelia asked. Suddenly the whole table seemed interested in Angel's love life  
  
He squirmed in his seat again and had an idea to curb the conversation back to less argument-starting things. "Why do we need to revisit my past? I went to the ballet! I cried like a baby!" But it was too late...the damage had been done.  
  
"How did he end it with Darla?" Cordelia wanted to know. No body cared about the ballet anymore.  
  
"She tossed his sorry ass out" Gunn responded cheerfully taking a well- savoured bite of his eggs, satisfied at how the morning had turned out after all.  
  
Cordelia looked at Angel, trying not to laugh and asked in disbelief, "She dumped you?"  
  
"It was mutual," Angel insisted. "I'd had enough of her"  
  
"Angel...Not the best thing to tell another woman..." Lorne cut in, chuckling at Cordy's surprise.  
  
"Not in that sense." He quickly corrected himself. "She was...I'd had enough. It wasn't right."  
  
"Uh huh..." Cordelia was definitely not impressed. She even crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Well in that case, I think I'm going to pass up water volleyball and rock climbing and email my sister." She got up. "Have a nice day." She smiled warmly at the others and frowned at Angel.  
  
"No..." Angel protested. But she didn't pay any attention. Just walked away.  
  
Angel hit his head on the table, Gunn looked at him. "Man...You really didn't handle that well." He observed a little too gleefully. "She looked pretty pissed."  
  
Angel glared at his friend. "Oh yeah, cos you *really* helped!" He tossed back sarcastically. He wasn't too pleased with the black man at the moment. "What am I going to do?"  
  
"Don't worry man. I got y'all tickets to the ball tomorrow night." Gunn presented Angel with two pieces of paper.  
  
"Huh?" Angel asked, slightly perplexed. "I thought you didn't like Cordy." Angel was definitely confused.  
  
"Yeah, well, can't stop you from goin' after her anyway." He forced a smile. "Plus, she's actually a really nice girl," Gunn said, trying to sound sincere. It was harder than he thought it'd be. Plus, the tickets weren't supposed to come into the plan until LATER. Oh well, it was just a minor change to the plan.  
  
Angel's demeanour brightened as he accepted the tickets. He beamed at his beast friend. "Thanks Gunn," He began, inspecting the pieces of paper. "I owe you one." He stopped and looked worried.  
  
"Ah..Angel man..What's the problem now?"  
  
Angel glanced at his friend and handed the tickets back sadly. "If you haven't noticed, Cordelia's not exactly talking to me at the moment. There's no way she'll come with me if I ask her now."  
  
Gunn grinned. "Don't worry..Just let me handle it."  
  
*~*~*~*Cordelia's Room*~*~*~*  
  
Cordelia was still fuming. It was amazing just what a jerk Angel really was. Sure this Buffy chick was her age, so she couldn't get too angry at him for the age difference, but the way he just dismissed her..and the way he'd spoken about Darla..Surely he hadn't meant it like that. Maybe she had over-reacted.  
  
Anyway, how could she be so sure that last night she hadn't been delirious? Maybe all those thoughts about falling for Angel and leaving Groo were brought on by the shock and pain from her ankle? Somehow she knew that wasn't true, but damnit! She was angry at the man!  
  
There was a knock on the door and she was shaken out of her thoughts. She fought the idea that it was Angel coming to apologise and silently cursed herself for thinking it at all.  
  
When she opened the door, one of the hotel busboys smiled at her, holding out a silver tray complete with lid. She grinned at him and shook her head. "I'm sorry..I think you have the wrong room. I didn't order room service."  
  
The boy shook his head and extended the tray even further. "No ma'am. This is sent to you, from Mr O'Malley."  
  
Cordelia was taken by surprise as she removed the lid. There was a little place card positioned above a crisp envelope. She picked it up and looked at the elegant handwriting, then read it aloud. "Cordy, I'm sorry about breakfast. I guess I have a lot to explain. In fact, I want to do just that, so pick up the envelope and look inside." She stopped and obeyed his message. She gasped as she saw the ticket and then looked at the message again. "I have the matching ticket. If you want to come, take this one and I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow night. If not, send it back with the busboy and enjoy the rest of your vacation. Angel."  
  
Cordelia smiled and clutched the envelope and note to her chest. The busboy looked up at her expectantly. She grinned at him and put the lid back on the empty tray. "Tell Mr O'Malley I'll see him tomorrow night. Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome ma'am." He replied, nodding. "Enjoy your vacation."  
  
"Thank you..I will." She beamed, before walking back inside and rushing to choose an outfit. After all, she *had* packed for *any* occasion.  
  
*~*~*~*Internet Café*~*~*~*  
  
"Cool man. I told you it'd all work out." Gunn said, cradling his cell phone to his ear with his shoulder while he tapped away on the keyboard. "Sure..No problem. Look, I'm kinda busy right now.." He sighed, scrunching his face up at the message on his screen. "What am I doing? I'm..ah.." He looked around for inspiration, and his gaze settled on a pretty raven haired girl walking past. "I'm trying to hook up, so I gotta go. See ya later bro."  
  
Gunn didn't wait for Angel's reply. Instead he hung up and concentrated on the computer screen once more. He cussed and cursed, tapping in code after code until it finally let him into the account he was looking for.  
  
"Bingo." Gunn muttered. "Okay Cordelia Chase..Lets see what you're not tellin' us.."  
  
*****************************  
  
A/N again- Okay few final things to tell you: a) review now. b) Look out for a new fic from the Angelic Devils coming soon. More info later. c) The sequel to my (Insane1's) fic 'Alternate Reality or a Different Dimension' will be up in a short amount of time. Look out for it because Mrs O has been co-writing some of the dialogue with me and Star/Fyre has also given me a boost. And finally d) REVIEW PLEASE. I know I said it before, but it's just a friendly reminder. Thanks to absolutely everyone that either reviewed or emailed 'cos you are the motivation that keeps us going. ^_^  
  
Luv ya  
  
Insane1 and Mrs O 


	7. Euphoria

A/N *Insane1*- Umm..well, not much to say, except Thanks soooo much for the reviews. Oh, and most die-hard C/A shippers are gonna REALLY like this one. I hope. Not giving a single thing away this time. Are we Mrs O?  
  
A/N *Mrs O*- *Muffled* No..  
  
********************************  
  
*~*~*~*Angel*~*~*~*  
  
Angel tugged at his bowtie once more. The damn thing just would not do up properly. It was so frustrating. He glanced at his watch. 7:45pm. Not good. He was meeting Cordelia at 8, and wasn't anywhere near ready yet. Sure, he'd showered, shaved, styled his hair, brushed his teeth and gotten dressed into his tux..but he didn't have his cufflinks on..and this stupid thing around his neck was not co-operating!  
  
Lowering his hands in defeat, Angel looked into the bathroom mirror again. He wasn't gonna deny it; He looked good..Hell, he looked DAMN good. He grinned smugly at his reflection as he gave himself the once-over. Once he was finished 'checking himself out' he smiled in satisfaction. "I still got it." He crowed, then stopped smiling and furrowed his brow once more. "Now..if I could work out how to fix this thing.." He mumbled, returning his attention to his bowtie yet again.  
  
*~*~*~*Cordy*~*~*~*  
  
Cordelia twirled around in front of the mirror, taking in the overall effect of her outfit. She still wasn't quite sure if it was appropriate. It looked great, she knew that much, but was it too much? It wasn't like she had to impress Angel..she shouldn't even be trying. She was engaged to another man and even though she knew deep down that she should be with Angel..she *was* technically still with Groo. She looked at the clock. 7:45pm. She didn't have the time to change. This outfit would have to do.  
  
Applying the finishing touches of her makeup, Cordelia smiled at her reflection. She looked good and felt good. This was going to be the most perfect evening..  
  
Immediately, she put a stop to her thoughts. The most perfect evening? Wasn't that what Groo's proposal had been? "Groo.." She mused, playing with her ring then placing it back on the dresser next to the photo of the two of them that she had brought with her. Slowly, she picked up the picture. It was taken in Tuscany on their last vacation together. He had his arm around her and they were both beaming. She looked down at his image sadly, and ran a finger along his tiny face delicately. "I'm sorry.." She found herself whispering. "I don't want to hurt you..But I'm not meant to be with you..At least I don't think I am..See..I..I think I may be falling in lo-" There was a sharp knock at her door, cutting Cordelia's reflection short.  
  
She turned quickly and looked at the door, the picture still in her hands. She shook her head and looked at the picture and smiled sadly as she placed it facedown on the dresser. She looked back towards the door. "Coming.." She called, taking one last glance at her fiancé's down turned photo. "I'm sorry.." She whispered once more.  
  
Now, if only it would be that easy face-to-face.  
  
*~*~*~*Angel*~*~*~*  
  
"Coming.." Cordelia's voice called through the door. Angel smiled nervously. It still amazed him that this girl..sorry..woman had such an effect on him. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. A voice inside his head tried to tell him that it was love..but he wouldn't hear it. There was no way he could be in love. He had only just met her..It was impossible to fall for someone he didn't know, right?  
  
Deep down he knew that was wrong.  
  
He knew that this woman was different from the word go. He knew that the entire situation was different. He'd felt almost drawn to her for no apparent reason..and he couldn't turn her into a rambling bimbo with a smile like all the other women he'd met. He noticed her smile and sparkling eyes..not her long legs and perfect cleavage. (Though, it wasn't to say that he *hadn't* noticed them.) She wasn't just a piece of meat like the others..She made his heart do back-flips with just a glance..and she had him wrapped around her little finger almost instantly.  
  
That wasn't normal. Not for him. He was no woman's lapdog. Never had been and never would be..or so he had thought. Now he wasn't so sure. Cordelia only had to say the word and he would jump through hoops. He would do anything to make her happy, and it scared him. She was the first and only woman to ever make him feel this way..which led him to believe that it was more than just a fling. That *she* was more than any other woman. That he, quite possibly, loved her..or was falling in love with her. It was the only rational explanation, short of a nervous breakdown. The problem was that he was having a hard time admitting it.  
  
When she opened the door he was left almost speechless. She looked beautiful. Her dress was a deep red, almost maroon, and flowed out at her hips from a perfectly fitted corset shaped top to a full length ball gown. When Cordelia smiled at him, Angel could only whimper.  
  
"Hi.." He practically yelped. Swallowing and cringing at his pathetic greeting he regained his composure. He smiled and looked her up and down appreciatively. "You look amazing..Completely and totally breathtaking..Wow."  
  
She had the grace to act modest. After all, she'd heard the true depth of his reaction when he had practically whimpered his greeting. Nibbling her lower lip in a humble manner, she looked at him and smiled. "Thanks..You don't look so bad yourself." She was under exaggerating (Obviously). He looked drop-dead gorgeous.  
  
His tux fitted him perfectly in all the right places, accentuating his muscles and his already illustrious 'suave vibe'. He oozed sex appeal and style..and his bow tie was sitting on the cutest angle..almost as if he was daring to be both suave and a little brash. It kinda gave him the whole 'face of an angel with a rich, gooey, bad-boy center' clichéd kinda look. Cordelia smirked. She had to admit that she liked that image..especially on him. It suited him.  
  
"Thanks." He replied, extending his arm. "Shall we?" He smiled.  
  
She linked her arm with his and nodded. "Why..I thought you'd never ask."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
When they walked into the hotel's ballroom, Cordelia gasped at its beauty. There were white and red balloons and streamers carefully positioned above them to hang from the ceiling where they created upside-down arcs, and red and white roses arranged in perfect bouquets on tables and other appropriate places around the room. The band was set up in the far corner, playing a methodical and relaxing instrumental number and couples were slowly swaying to the music on the dance floor.  
  
The atmosphere exuded romance and intimacy.  
  
"Angel.." She finally managed, "Isn't it beautiful?"  
  
He nodded, also clearly awestruck by the room's splendour. "It is." He replied, then looked into her eyes with a look of intense attraction. "Which is why it's perfect for you.." He stopped and rolled his eyes. "Okay..that was cheesy.." He proclaimed. She giggled and he half smiled. "But it was..and is still the truth."  
  
Cordelia didn't know how to reply. He was so charming, ultimately lust- worthy and his eyes were so..soulful. When he had looked into her eyes before, she had fought the urge to dissolve completely. You could get lost in that loving gaze..and she had felt herself slipping. So she had to stay focussed. 'You're still engaged, Cor.' Her mind repeated time and time again. 'Still engaged to another man. Still engaged. Not to him.'  
  
After a few seconds, she realised she still hadn't said anything to him. Smiling appreciatively, she nodded. "Thank you." She replied finally. "You're sweet. Cheesy, but sweet."  
  
Angel looked towards the couples swaying together in the middle of the floor in front of the band. He looked back at his stunning date and cocked his head to the side, "Dance with me?" He asked.  
  
"Love to." Cordelia replied, choosing to ignore her inner-voice and follow her..er..heart.  
  
Angel led her to the center of the dance floor. He wanted her to be admired by all. She was stunning and deserved to be acknowledged for it. (Of course, the fact that he wanted to flaunt his prize for the evening to all the other men in the room had *nothing* to do with making her the center of attention.)  
  
Cordelia smiled and placed her arms loosely around his neck. Angel pulled her closer to him as he assumed position and enveloped her waist in his arms. She leant her head on his strong chest as they swayed in motion to the music, taking in his cologne with every breath. She closed her eyes and they fell in sync with each other almost instantly.  
  
He relaxed and rested his cheek on the top of her head, also closing his eyes and breathing her scent in rhythmically. Her shampoo mixed with the light aroma of her perfume was enthralling. Rocking to the music, Angel felt content. It was a feeling that he had thought completely lost to him..before Cordelia in any case.  
  
Wait! That was it! *That* was the real reason as to why he knew she was different! He'd finally worked it out.  
  
He had always thought of love as being painful. It was the source of hurt, suffering and loss. But now he wasn't so sure. There had to be more to love if he could be feeling so good around this woman. This was the first time he'd experienced a completely positive feeling towards a relationship (or the prospect of a relationship). It was the first time he'd had the gut instinct that she was special and that he'd be an idiot to let her go. She was the first woman to make him feel like this and it really did disturb him..but also strangely comforted him as well.  
  
Then it *really* hit him. His trail of thoughts before. His thoughts now. His arguments with Gunn. His reaction to everything that was *her*..It all kept bringing him back to the same conclusion. *Everything* told him the same thing. He was falling in love with the woman currently in his arms.  
  
For the first time in a long time, Liam O'Malley was able to internally admit his love towards a woman without fearing that it wasn't real, or that it was the wrong way to feel or that it was inevitably going to end badly. For the first time, he was able to admit that he was completely taken by someone and he wanted to spend eternity in her arms..  
  
Of course, admitting it to himself was easy..the hard part would be admitting his true feelings to his friends and, most importantly, to the woman in question.  
  
Angel raised his head and looked down at her, a small smile working its way onto his lips. He was falling in love with her and it felt good. She was the most exquisite, and precious thing he had ever encountered and he had her in his arms. Right now, she was all his.  
  
Cordelia had felt him move and she opened her eyes slowly. She pulled herself away from his chest, a little reluctantly, and looked up at him. He smiled down at her and she couldn't help but melt at the passion she saw in his eyes. The big, brown, 'puppy-dog' orbs were filled with so many emotions that she thought they might overload and go kablooey. "Hey.." She whispered, trying weakly to maintain her mental stability. She was getting lost in those eyes again..and for the strangest reason, she didn't want to fight it anymore.  
  
"Hey.." His voice was gentle yet it was fused with the same intensity of emotion as his gaze.  
  
She smiled softly. "Penny for your thoughts?"  
  
"You can have 'em for free if you want.." He replied, his voice still barely above a tender whisper.  
  
Her smile broadened a little. "Nice to know."  
  
"I was just thinking how perfect tonight is." He informed her. "The music..the roses..You being here." He gave a short, almost inaudible chuckle. "Actually, it's just the 'you' part. I mean, it's all wonderful..but when I look at you..God this is gonna sound even more cheesy than before..but it feels like nothing else matters. It's almost like there's-"  
  
"There's nobody else in the room." She finished for him. He nodded and she snuggled against his chest once more. "Yeah.." She mumbled into his tux. "I know what you mean."  
  
Angel couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. His heart was doing an entire gymnastics routine in his chest and he was certain she could feel it..even through his jacket and shirt. Had she just said what he thought she'd said? If so, did she feel the same way towards him as he did towards her? Was she falling in love with him like he was with her? *Did* she already love him? *Could* she love him if she didn't already and wasn't falling yet? Was there-  
  
Angel paused mid-thought and fought to rid his mind of his doubts. Not only were they gonna make his evening less perfect, but they were also gonna confuse the crap out of him. Instead of dwelling on the negative possibilities, he allowed his thoughts to travel back to the woman that was currently in his embrace. He rested his cheek on her head again and sighed contentedly. There wasn't too much more that could make tonight any more perfect.  
  
*  
  
As the final song came to a finish, Cordelia and Angel were forced to draw apart and applaud with the other guests. Secretly, neither had wanted the evening to end. They felt safe in each other's arms. Nothing else had mattered during their dancing. Nobody else had even existed. It was almost as if time had paused for them. Almost as if they were given the chance to discover how meant for each other they really were. Neither was going to tell the other, though. They both feared rejection. They both feared being told by the other that they were crazy or were the only one feeling that way. But, even though these were legitimate fears to harbour, they were both missing the endless possibilities because they were too afraid to make that first step.  
  
"Thank you," One of the band members was saying, "As you all know, tonight has been about love. Whether you've only just met this week..Whether you're here on a vacation with that special someone..Whether you're here on your honeymoon or even your 50th anniversary.. Tonight has been about celebrating that relationship and the love that exists between you and your special someone." The audience applauded and he smiled around the room. Once satisfied their clapping had ended, he continued. "So it is with our best wishes that we will play this song..as our encore and our gift to you.."  
  
"Oh Please.." Cordelia rolled her eyes and leant in towards Angel, "Could this guy get any tackier?" She whispered. " 'As our encore and our gift to you.' "  
  
Angel snicked as she mimicked the singer, then fought to regain his serious composure. "Cordelia.." He hissed, though still smirking, "Let the nice man finish his speech..however corny it may seem."  
  
She giggled and wrapped her arm around him, hugging him to her without even realising it. Angel had noticed, however, and his heart started doing gymnastics within his chest again. Maintaining his suave exterior, he embraced Cordelia with his arm and together they listened to the rest of the singer's lengthy talk. Luckily he had reached the conclusion to his spiel.  
  
"..Anyhow," He was saying, "We really enjoy this song because it truly portrays the way love can make us all feel. And it's realistic because it encompasses the fear and risks involved..Anyway, we hope you like our cover as much as we like playing it for you."  
  
When he had finished, the couples on the dancefloor burst into another round of applause, and once again Cordelia Chase and Liam O'Malley found themselves drawing apart to clap courteously. The music started up and people assumed their dance positions once more. Cordelia recognised the music almost immediately. The song, 'If I Don't Tell You Now' performed by Ronan Keating (written/composed by Diane Warren), was on one of Mel's frequently over-played CDs. However, Cordy had always liked it. It really was a lovely track. She smiled as Angel bowed light-heartedly before her.  
  
"Final dance, my lady?" He asked, his brown eyes shining up at her playfully.  
  
She curtseyed and nodded, playing along with him. "Why, yes my lord.." She giggled, then stopped and pouted, her eyes still gleaming. "You know, I never really liked that women of Shakespearian times had to call men 'Lord'. I mean, how self-righteous were the men back then?"  
  
Angel shook his head with a chuckle. "I really don't have any objections.." She hit him playfully and he had the grace to look mock ashamed. "But it was wrong." He added in a flat, yet still playful, voice. He looked at her again and put his 'puppy-dog' façade into practice. "Come on..last dance, remember?"  
  
Rolling her eyes in defeat, Cordelia pretended to act annoyed. "Fine.." She sighed, taking position in his embrace for what would be the last time. She became serious as that thought hit her and leant her cheek onto his shoulder while they shifted in time with the music. "Thank you for this.." She whispered.  
  
He breathed her scent in and planned to savour it as he nodded gently. "No..thank you."  
  
Then neither spoke. Instead, each closed their eyes and listened to the lyrics of the song. It really was a moving piece..And it really did speak about the way they were feeling. Cordelia and Angel were both mesmerised. As it played, they secretly related it to their current situations.  
  
**/"I've kept it inside for the longest time..And I can't keep keeping All this love that's inside my heart..Maybe it's safer not to say that I care..Maybe this road won't lead me anywhere,"/**  
  
The words struck Angel first. He had kept his feelings hidden from even himself for a while and it was getting harder to keep it to himself now that he had worked it out. But he still had doubts and fears. Ones that, if they were true, would be damaging to him and it might be safer to leave it go..Or maybe it wouldn't go anywhere even if he did tell her..  
  
Cordelia had never actually taken time to *really* listen to the lyrics. But now that she had, she felt herself relating with them completely. She was having a hard time admitting that she had feelings for Angel..and she had known that they had been there for a while. But, it would be safer for everyone if she didn't tell him. Groo wouldn't be heartbroken and her parents would never have to know..But then, what if she did tell Angel and nothing eventuated from it?  
  
**/"But..If I don't tell you now (If I don't tell you now)..I may never get the chance again (I may never get the chance again) To tell you that I need you..Tell you what I'm feeling..If I keep these feelings in. And if I don't say the words (If I don't say the words)..How will you hear what's inside my heart. How will you know that If I don't tell you now.."/**  
  
Angel felt torn. The words had a point. If he didn't tell her he might never get the chance again..and then he'd spend the rest of his life thinking 'What if..?'  
  
Cordelia didn't know what to make of the chorus. At first she was saddened. They were words that not only mirrored her uncertainty..but sent her mind to drift back to the first verse. But then it hit her that if she didn't tell him..she might never get the chance again and would spend forever thinking about 'What if..?'  
  
**/"I'd give anything to be in your dreams..And I can't stand standing by With this dream that's inside my heart. Maybe I'm only gonna make a mistake..And there's a chance maybe my heart will break.."/**  
  
Both Cordy and Angel could feel the tug of the song. As the lyrics became stronger, and the emotion became clear, they both realised that it would be a big risk. Maybe it *would* be a mistake. And there *was* a chance their hearts could be broken..but they knew they couldn't let it lie. A step had to be taken.  
  
**/"but..If I don't tell you now (If I don't tell you now)..I may never get the chance again (I may never get the chance again) To tell you that I need you..Tell you what I'm feeling..If I keep these feelings in. And if I don't say the words (If I don't say the words)..How will you hear what's inside my heart. How will you know that  
  
If I don't tell you now.."/**  
  
And as the chorus played again, the uncertainty started to disappear. Angel and Cordelia were starting to fully understand that this might be their only chance and the risks would have to be taken.  
  
**/"How will you know you're inside my soul. Oh it's driving me crazy..'Cos you don't see (You don't see)..You're that one for me..I'm so afraid to say the way that I feel.."/**  
  
The song was reaching its climax..The singer was starting to raise his voice and the beat was stronger. The message and conclusion were fast approaching.  
  
Angel had made his decision. His doubts and fears were being echoed in the lyrics and the risk of telling her the depth of his feelings was enormous. But the point had been made. Love was about risks. And letting his feelings eat at him from the inside wasn't doing any good anyway..  
  
Cordelia knew that what she was planning on doing could ruin everything she had set up in her life, but she didn't care. Her heart wanted Angel more than everything. The way he made her feel was amazing..and she couldn't leave without the knowledge that she *tried*. The 'What ifs' wouldn't eat at her then.  
  
They were both still afraid to let the other know how they felt but, as the song pointed out..  
  
**/"....If I don't tell you now (If I don't tell you now)..I may never get the chance again (I may never get the chance again) To tell you that I need you..Tell you what I'm feeling..If I keep these feelings in. And if I don't say the words (If I don't say the words)..How will you hear what's inside my heart. How will you know that  
  
If I don't tell you now.."  
  
"If I don't tell you now."/**  
  
Cordelia snuggled into Angel's chest contentedly. She knew the song was ending, and she'd have to say something soon. The question was, could she pick up the courage (like in the song) and let him know?  
  
Angel noticed Cordelia's action and wrapped his arms around her. For some reason, he was scared of telling her how he felt. After all, he'd never felt this way before. Then again, he'd never been falling in love like this before. Could he muster up the ability to tell her before it was too late?  
  
They were both ripped out of their thoughts as the couples around them burst into applause once more. Begrudgingly, they pulled themselves apart and joined in. The lead singer bowed and took the mic in his hand.  
  
Cordelia looked to Angel fearfully. "Not him again.." She moaned.  
  
He fought not to laugh and pressed his finger to his lips. "Shhh.." He whispered, then winked to let her know he was only playing. "If we don't interrupt him, we *may* just get out of here by Christmas."  
  
Giggling, Cordy nodded and looked towards the singer. He was in the middle of thanking people for coming.  
  
"But..the night is still young." He said, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. He smiled at the audience, and motioned towards the door. "So go out and enjoy it. And don't forget to tell that special someone just how much they mean to you."  
  
One more round of applause and the group forwarded out. Angel and Cordelia linked arms as they made their way to the elevator again. Every so often, Angel would turn and look at Cordelia with a smile. On the 5th time, she pulled him up on it.  
  
"Okay..I give up..What?" She asked.  
  
He crinkled his brow in confusion. "What do you mean 'What'?"  
  
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"  
  
"Can't a man look at his beautiful date?"  
  
"Yes..I guess..But.." She didn't know how to respond. "Umm..Its still a little unnerving."  
  
"Oh.." Angel looked a little put out.  
  
She felt awful. That's not what she'd meant. "But in a good way..It's just..Hang on..You think I'm beautiful?"  
  
He smirked. "I've already told you that."  
  
"But you were just being polite."  
  
"What? I don't buy that for a second. You *know* you're more than attractive."  
  
She put her hands on her hips and stared at him, her eyes gleaming with laughter once more. "Well..It doesn't hurt to hear it every now and then."  
  
They laughed and the elevator doors opened in front of them. Angel motioned for Cordelia to walk in. "Ladies first," He bowed, directing her inside,  
  
She smiled and took a step forward. Angel joined her and pressed the button for their floor. He kept trying to turn and talk to her, but found himself hesitating at every opportunity. He was starting to get tired of this feeling. It was all well and good to be falling in love, but he didn't like the uneasiness or the awkwardness that seemed to come with it..And he most certainly HATED feeling like a lapdog. He shook the irritating 'side effects' off, and made up his mind to talk to her like he did all the other women he flirted with. But then, one smile from her and the awkwardness was back.  
  
Finally, as the doors swung open, he found himself saying, "Tonight was amazing. *You* were absolutely amazing."  
  
She smiled at him and stepped out onto their floor. He followed as she spoke. "Thank you." She replied softly. "You were as well."  
  
"I was what?" He looked puzzled.  
  
"Amazing, doofus." She hit him on the arm playfully.  
  
"Hey.." He protested, his eyes shining with laughter again. "I never called you doofus."  
  
She laughed and he realised that they were walking towards his room. Pausing mid-step he asked, "Shouldn't we be going that way?" He gestured down the hall, towards her room.  
  
Cordelia smiled and shook her head. "Nope." She responded. "I thought that I'd switch roles with you and walk you to your door."  
  
"Oh." He nodded, then the puzzled look was back. "Why?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know.." A wry grin spread across her lips and she looked at him almost suggestively. "Guys shouldn't get to have *all* the fun, right?"  
  
He chuckled and shook his head. "I guess not." They walked a little further and he stopped outside a door. He looked at it a bit disheartened. "This is me."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Duh. I *have* been here before, you know."  
  
Angel smiled and tried to move his feet. Motioning towards the door he said, "Well.. I guess I should let myself in.."  
  
"Yeah.guess you should." She answered, her voice starting to fade away.  
  
He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet, before bringing his gaze up to her eyes again. "Thanks." He grinned. "I've never been escorted to my door before. This is all new territory for me..I don't exactly know how to act."  
  
"Me neither." She confessed. "This role switching stuff is hard.."  
  
Suddenly, he had an idea. He smiled at her and she looked at him wearily. Something was definitely going on inside that head of his and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know what.  
  
"Well.." He began after a beat, stepping closer to her. "The last time I walked anyone to their door.She did this."  
  
Before Cordelia could react, he'd planted his lips onto hers in a soft, gentle kiss. Her heart melted and her brain went numb. As he drew away she fought to regain her composure. Swallowing hard, Cordelia opened her eyes to see Angel standing before her, with a satisfied smirk on his beautiful features.  
  
"W-well.." She stammered. "The l-last time I did *that*, the guy walked away."  
  
Angel pouted playfully. "Hey..you were the one that ran into your room. I walked away *after* you closed your door."  
  
She shook her head. "But see..You didn't do the 'running and door closing' thing, so I have to be the gentleman and walk away tastefully." Of course, her feet were taking her nowhere at this particular moment, and Angel was still standing where he had been when he'd kissed her. She swallowed again and tried to look resolved, looking into his eyes and meeting his intense gaze. "So..It'd be best if I walked away now.." She informed him somewhat meekly.  
  
"Yeah.." Angel replied quietly, not breaking their gaze. "It would."  
  
And then it happened. Cordelia broke their eye contact bye practically lunging her lips back onto his in a full on attack. At first he'd been a little surprised, but fell into their tongue-war action easily. His hands moved all over her possessively.  
  
"Really.." She breathed between kisses. "Should..Go.."  
  
Angel tore one of his hands from her and put it behind his back. He fumbled to open the door, having already unlocked it when they first arrived at the room. "Uh-huh.." He breathlessly murmured in response. Somehow they both knew she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. After a minute or so, he finally managed to open the door. As it swung open, he found himself backing into the room..one Cordelia still firmly attached to his lips.  
  
Angel forced his eyes to open as he gently pulled away. Cordy looked up at him, batting her lashes as she silently questioned his actions. He smiled down at her lovingly while he moved to close the door.  
  
When he walked back to stand before her, she pressed her lips to his again. They started slowly at first, gentle and soft, each savouring the way the other felt in their embrace. After a little while their hands began to wander over each other, allowing the fire and passion to grow. Cordelia's hands flew to Angel's jacket and she helped him shrug it off, all while his own hands moved deftly to unzip her dress.  
  
As Angel felt himself getting caught in the moment, he pulled back. Cordelia looked up into his eyes. They were full of concern and a hell of a lot of desire. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked gently.  
  
She nodded eagerly, her long elegant fingers undoing the buttons of his shirt. "I've never been as sure of anything in my life than I am right now." She told him, not tearing her eyes from his.  
  
He smiled and kissed her again, feeling the warmth of her hands as they parted his shirt and ran along his bare chest. This time it was she that pulled away.  
  
"Are you?" Her voice asked.  
  
Angel's eyes whipped open. She was still caressing his chest, but was waiting patiently for his response. He smiled down at her. "Hell yes." He gave her a typically male grin. "I thought that was kinda obvious." He gestured to the bulge in his slacks and she looked back up at him, her eyes shining with laughter.  
  
"Now here's an idea.." She said, running her hands over his chest seductively, her mind taking her back to the episode on the beach.  
  
He caught her half reminiscent-half devious smirk and suddenly his memory took him back as well. "Oh no." He stated light-heartedly. "You're gonna finish what you've started this time. There will be no more cold showers for this Private Investigator, I'll tell you that right now.."  
  
She giggled and kissed him again, her hands fumbling with his belt and fly, while his hands went back to the zipper on the back of her dress. The articles of clothing didn't put up any sort of resistance, and were soon falling to the floor not-so-gracefully.  
  
As they stood in each other's arms, their hands roaming possessively over the endless plains of smooth skin, Cordelia looked up at Angel with all the fire and passion that had been building between them ever since they had first met in the airport. "Make love to me." She heard herself whisper.  
  
He smiled back lopsidedly. "Yes ma'am."  
  
*********************************  
  
A/N *Insane1*- Soo..what did u think? Was that end scene too much? Not enough? I know it was fluffy..But honestly, was it okay? The only reason I ask is that I've never really attempted something like that before. I usually prefer to leave it as a connotation. (Simply 'cos I know I can't write a good sex scene..Hell I can't even write a mediocre sex scene..and besides, this is a PG-13 fic) Anywho..gotta run. Please Review.  
  
A/N *Mrs O* - *still muffled* Hey! Don't leave me here! 


	8. Ultimatum

A/N from *MRS O-TOWN* - Hey guys. We're so sorry for the *unbelievably* long hiatus. We've been so busy with school and exams but we hadn't forgotten (like your emails or PMs didn't remind us! Lol!) and we had been working on the next chapters. Also, don't forget we had 'All In A Day's Work' to do too (which should be updated ASAP). Well, I know you've been waiting a long time so I'll let you get on with reading. But a shout-out goes to Gabby (our stalker), Psycgurl (whose been a long time reader of some of our fics), Star and everyone else who have reviewed or email us with feedback. We appreciate it!  
  
A/N from *INSANE1* - What she said...lol. Guys, I am also gonna add my apologies for the delay, and use this as an advert for my other fics out there *ducks as T tries to hit her with a cartoon baseball bat*. I SWEAR that I'm working on them and all that. My computer is a bitch. Lets leave it at that...lol. Thanks for all your feedback and support on these fics, we really love you guys.  
  
~*~*Chapter 8 - Ultimatum*~*~  
  
The sun streamed in through the miniscule gap in the hotel curtains. Cordelia stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes lazily. Her hand hit the object next to her with a loud THWACK! Cordelia turned to see what she'd hit, thinking it was the table beside her bed. Her sleepy eyes widened.  
  
Angel's eyelids flickered open and he smirked, rubbing the top of his head.  
  
"And good morning to you too." he grinned. She exhaled and smiled, still stretching and bringing the covers up to her in a sudden bout of embarrassment. Not that there was anything to hide.especially after last night.  
  
What had she done?!  
  
Well, she KNEW what she had done....but Groo....and a wedding....and oh this was bad. "Hey," she tried to make her voice less surprised and more normal.  
  
He looked back at her and then around the room, his mind racing to remember the previous night. Sure he remembered what they had done...but now he was catching up with *every* tiny detail. He smiled and then looked down at himself, before blushing a little and reaching for his side of the blanket.  
  
Hold up!  
  
He *blushed*? That had NEVER happened to him before. The blushing. Especially not in THIS sort of situation. "Hey...." He replied, training his exterior to remain calm and poised.  
  
Cordelia gulped a little. It felt like a surreal dream. Everything last night had been fine but she hadn't meant it to get this far..not that she minded.... Of course she should mind! She was still engaged. And Angel didn't know. But she loved him....HE didn't know that either. What if..What if he thought she was just another easy lay? What if he had only pretended to be suave and sweet and all that just to get her into bed and then he'd leave. What if- she was cut out of her thoughts when he reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.  
  
Cordelia scolded herself for even thinking about it. She knew deep down in her heart that he wouldn't play her..he didn't seem like the type, no matter what his friends said he was like. But when..no, *if* he found out about Groo, she dreaded his reaction.  
  
Oh god! What *had* she done?!  
  
Angel tilted his head at her, noticing the way she pulled back from his touch. Did she think last night was a dreadful mistake? Had she had too much champagne and didn't even know what she was doing until this morning? Oh God! He didn't want to think about that. Not after he realised that he loved her. While internally panicking, he forced his voice to remain collected. "So, penny for your thoughts?"  
  
Cordelia was, for the first time in her life, rendered speechless. How was she going to explain this to him and to Groo?  
  
"I just...I'm just surprised," she said, half lying.  
  
He couldn't help the look of anxiety that flashed across his features. She didn't remember?? "Oh...." How was he supposed to reply?  
  
"I never knew I could feel like this about somebody," Cordelia added, mentally kicking herself. She hadn't MEANT for it to come out, but she couldn't resist it. She didn't like to see him hurt.  
  
It was a look of relief that made its way into his face this time. He smiled and reached for her, holding her in his arms. "I know what you mean....This is all new to me. I mean, the feelings...." He grimaced at his babbling. He NEVER babbled. "Although with the way I'm acting you would probably think that all of this is new to me...." He paused. "But its not." Oh great, now she'd think he was a player. (That was the truth though, right?) "Not that-"  
  
She silenced him with a finger to his lips. She smiled slightly, "Me too," she said softly. He grinned and nodded, snuggling his head into her shoulder. She kissed the side of his head, "I'd better go," she said quietly. Sensing his disappointment, she added, "I'll be back soon,"  
  
He brightened, and kissed her forehead. "I'll hold you to that." She turned her eyes away from him as she slinked out of the bed, holding the covers around her as she picked up her clothes. She could feel his gaze on her as she moved around. She felt so guilty.  
  
He sat up and reached for his boxers, which lay on the floor a few centimetres from the bed. Pulling them on, he started to pick up their clothes, giving her as much privacy as possible.  
  
She disappeared into the bathroom as quickly as possible. She wouldn't have a shower here, she'd just put her dress back on and go to her room. She needed to think and she wouldn't be able to do that knowing he was in the next room.  
  
When Cordelia emerged from the bathroom, hastily dressed, hair messed and make up smudged, he smiled. He had never seen anyone look so scruffy and yet beautiful at the same time. Argh! Yet another cheesy thought in his head. That was the one downfall of love, he decided. It made you turn into a rambling idiot. Although, if he had someone like Cordelia Chase, it didn't bother him.  
  
Argh! Another one right there!  
  
She gave him another small smile as she said, "The bathroom's free, I'll be back later," she said as she turned towards the door. He nodded and moved to hold her one last time before she left, but she was gone before he had the chance, and the worry was back in full force.  
  
Outside the room, Cordelia let out a deep breath and leant against the wall. How could she let this happen? How could she be so stupid? Cordelia smiled at a passing couple, who whispered to each other when they walked past her. Firstly, she had to get out of this dress and get cleaned up. Then, it was time to come clean.  
  
She dreaded that. She wished she didn't have to. She wished that she could stay here with him for the rest of their lives and not have to face the real world. But, alas, it could not happen, and she was bound to lose both him and her fiancé.  
  
By some miracle, she managed to get to her room and get into the shower. She wanted to wash away all the bad things. She wanted to go back to the way it had all started....*before* she was engaged to Groo. She wanted to meet Angel *before* she'd met Groo.  
  
And again, she knew it could never happen. The tears started to fall and she sobbed for the next 20 minutes, allowing the water to drown out her cries and wash away the bitterness.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Gunn straightened himself up, PI style, as he knocked on the door. This was going to be one VERY interesting conversation and he knew it. He knocked hard on the door several times. He was so angry with her.  
  
He KNEW he should have forced the issue with Angel, but oh no, that guy just HAD to follow his.... er.... well, whatever it was, it wasn't his head..not the one on top of his shoulders, anyway.  
  
Cordelia finished the last coat of her lip-gloss and groaned as several raps on the door echoed through her room. She opened it, surprised to see the young black man towering over her, "God, what were you going to do, break down the door?" she sniped. She didn't want to be mean to him, she just wasn't in the mood.  
  
He glared at her and pushed his way in, not saying a word. Cordelia hit the wall behind her with a soft thud. She frowned.  
  
"Rude!" she said getting irritated with Gunn's behaviour. "Do you mind?" She asked closing the door and crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
He looked her in the eye and snorted derisively. "Not really. No."  
  
She arched an eyebrow up and then sighed. "I'm really not in the mood. I know you don't like me-" Cordelia was cut off as Gunn spun around and snarled.  
  
"I hate you. You're right. And I don't give a damn if you're in the mood or not to be honest." He shot back at her.  
  
"What's this all about?" Cordelia asked. She didn't want Gunn to be in her room long. She wondered if Angel had told him about what happened last night, "If this is about last night, I don't think it's any of your business," She said firmly.  
  
He stopped and grinned at her, his eyes flashing with cruelty and a world of hate. "When you screw with my best friend, literally and not, I *make* it my business." He stated, thrusting a handful of papers into her hands. "You messed with the wrong man *princess*" He hissed.  
  
Cordelia snatched the papers away from Gunn's hand and looked at them, her mouth fell open. Private emails sent to her sister and details about Groo and her family filled the pages, "T-t...y-y-you've been looking me up?!" she asked with a mix of disbelief and fear.  
  
He tilted his head to the side and rolled his eyes. "Hell yeah. Didn't think that wouldn't get caught when you were messing with a *PI* did you?" his grin grew wider as he realised she was scared.  
  
"I can't believe you'd do this to your best friend...unless Angel told you to look it up when even then its-" Her voice quivered as she tried to calm herself down. She noticed that her hands were shaking slightly. She put down the papers, and stuffed her hands in her back pocket.  
  
"HAH! Angel ask me to look up on you?" He snorted again, cutting her off. "That's rich. I mean, he sees you through these damn rose-coloured glasses and I can only imagine how hurt he's gonna be when you tell him." He stopped and smirked. "You *are* going to tell the man you've been leading on the truth right?" He said, offering her a chance to redeem herself slightly. Girl must have *some* morals, right?  
  
Cordelia looked at him, "I..I don't know..." she stuttered, regretting not coming clean straight away.  
  
His eyes widened in faux disbelief. "Girl....You're kiddin' me. So it's okay to go out, have a fling, lead some poor soul on but not-"  
  
"Look, it wasn't supposed to be like this!" she snapped. She sighed and flopped down on her bed, a sudden sense of fatigue washing over her. She picked up the papers that she'd discarded on her bed. He had photos of stuff from her hotel room..her engagement ring....the photo of her and Groo..  
  
Her eyes flashed at him when she looked into his eyes. "You went through my stuff?!" She screeched. "That's invasion of privacy! That's-"  
  
"That's called 'finding out the truth'" Gunn retorted. He was doing what was best for his friend, whether it was legal or not.  
  
"You can't do that!" Cordelia protested, making a mental note to get to her lawyer. But then she realised if she did that, her 'fling' with Angel would be exposed.  
  
"Can too!" Great Gunn, sound like a 3rd grader! She rolled her eyes and held the documents firmly.  
  
"Angel can't see this!" She snapped, pulling them to her chest. "I won't let you show him,"  
  
"Then tell him. Tell him, so *I* don't have to..cos I sure as hell don't want to break his heart." Gunn said. It was strange. He wanted Angel to know the truth, but he also could bear to see him go through all that pain..again.  
  
She held back her tears and looked to the ground. "I can't." She said weakly. "I love him you know." She looked up at him, her eyes glistening sadly, pleading with him to understand. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I wasn't supposed to have a fling.I wasn't supposed to do anything like this...I wasn't supposed to fall in love...."  
  
He looked away. Damn that girl was a good actress.  
  
Almost had him fooled for a second.  
  
Almost.  
  
"You're good, girl. He told me you were an actress. I don't care if you 'love' him or not. I just want him to know the truth and get on with his life.without you."  
  
"Actress?" She asked, puzzled, before reality clicked. She looked back at him furiously. "You think I'm *acting*?!"  
  
"Well isn't that what an actress does?" Gunn asked mocking her. "I mean, another performance like that, and you'd get an Oscar. I liked the thing with the tears. Very Meryl," His lips curled into a smile.  
  
"I'm not acting!" She cried. "I really do love him. I don't want to hurt him! I don't want to lose him!"  
  
"Then why did you play him in the first place?" Gunn asked. He felt no sympathy for the girl in front of him. They all did that, Darla, Buffy...  
  
Although Darla had never proclaimed love. She'd openly admitted that she was only in it for the sex, and it was to his understanding that in that particular relationship, Angel had held a mutual opinion. Not that it mattered of course.  
  
"Why did you do this in the first place? For the kicks? The sex?" Gunn asked harshly.  
  
"NO!" She screamed, on the verge of breaking down. "I didn't....it wasn't supposed to happen. I really do love him!"  
  
"Maybe that's what you think, but be assured he won't feel the same way after I show him this." He picked out papers from his bag. Copies. Cordelia looked at the worthless documents in her hands. Tears fell and stained the black ink.  
  
"You can't." She declared helplessly. "Please.. don't.."  
  
"Well, are *you* going to tell him?" Gunn asked, hoping she'd take up the offer.  
  
She paled even further, but her grip never loosened. "I can't.." She wailed helplessly. "I was going to.. I really was, But I can't...."  
  
There was a brief silence before Gunn straightened and cleared his throat. "You have until noon," he said. "Or I do it,"  
  
She watched him leave and collapsed onto the bed, weeping again and wondering what she was going to do.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Angel grinned to himself as he remembered the events of the previous night. He hadn't seen Cordelia yet, but he wasn't too doubtful things had been ruined. After all, she'd looked happy when she'd woken up. A knock on the door made Angel's heart flip. Assuming it was Cordelia, he opened the door with a huge grin on his face.  
  
Gunn watched as Angel's face fell.  
  
"Oh, it's you," Angel said disappointedly. He expected sarcastic a remark from his friend, but none came.  
  
"Yeah," the younger man replied solemnly instead. "It's me." He pushed his way into the room and sat down on the couch, deliberately avoiding the nearest bed.  
  
"What's up with you?" Angel asked, "Get turned down again?" He smirked, trying to engage in some playful banter.  
  
Gunn scowled at the comment and remained silent, turning to pull a wad of documents from his bag instead. It was past noon, and it seemed as if Cordelia had forfeit her right..or, rather, *obligation* to come clean. He sighed and extended the folder of incriminating evidence towards the other man.  
  
Angel looked at them. "Gunn, we're on holiday, I don't want to work!" He proceeded to ignore the files.  
  
"This is important."  
  
Angel took them from him, reminding himself to look at them later.  
  
Gunn noticed the way his friend placed them aside and rolled his eyes. "Now man." He hissed. "And, I hate to say it, but....you'll be shocked." He stood up and deliberately looked into Angel's eyes. "I'm sorry bro...."  
  
Angel peered into the file as he scanned through various emails and photos of Cordelia and another man, "What is *this*?" He demanded, panic trying to squirm into his voice, but his anger made it go by unnoticed.  
  
Gunn straightened to full height, not allowing Angel to intimidate him. "I checked up on her. THAT-" He pointed towards a picture of Groo, "Is her fiancé and-"  
  
"Her *fiancé*?" Angel repeated in disbelief, taking every detail of this man in. Somewhere at the back of his mind an itch of recognition kicked in, although he was at a loss as to why.  
  
Gunn nodded, still prepared for the explosion that Angel was saving up. He knew the other man well enough to predict what he would say and do in this situation, so he was prepared to defend his actions. "Yeah. Listen man, I'm so sorry....I didn't want to be right but-"  
  
"I don't believe this," Angel cut in. "I cannot--" he groaned as he sat on the bed. Suddenly his head whipped up and he glared at Gunn.  
  
'Oh here we go....' The black man thought as the other man snarled at him. "Listen Angel-" He began.  
  
"How could you do this?" Angel growled. After all the bother at the beginning, Gunn was *still* on Cordy's back.  
  
"How could *I* do this???" The younger man echoed in amazement. "Shouldn't you be asking *her* that question? Or better yet-"  
  
"You've had it in for her since the first time you met her! You can't honestly believe that I'll believe this shit that you've produced!" Angel exploded, just like Gunn had predicted - although for the wrong reason.  
  
"You think that I made this up?!" Gunn exclaimed, completely horrified. "Angel, man, I would *never* want to see you get hurt-"  
  
"That's bullshit and you know it! If you didn't want to see me hurt you could have stopped belittling Cordelia! You could have just accepted that we were together!"  
  
"And let *her* hurt you? No, bro. This way you know what you're dealing with." He reasoned in response.  
  
Angel couldn't think of a suitable response. Finally he slumped his shoulders. "So, she has a fiancé?" He asked glumly. Gunn nodded and another argument escaped his lips. "Then why hasn't she told me anything about him?"  
  
"Would you have slept with her if she had?" Gunn tossed back. He didn't allow any time for Angel to reply. "No. And, unfortunately, she's a player. I know you liked her but she's just like you and Darla were...." He trailed off, knowing that the last part wasn't gonna help things in any way, shape or form.  
  
"Don't bring my past into this!" Angel blew up again, although he was starting to believe Gunn was right. Which made him even more furious. It wasn't possible. "Cordy would never lie to me!" He added defiantly.  
  
Gunn let out a short, cruel laugh. "Don't fool yourself bro. That's all she's been doin' since you met her."  
  
"I know Cordy, alright! And she's never had an engagement ring or even a picture of that guy in her room!" Angel pointed to the picture of Groo, screwing up his face slightly. Why did he feel like he knew him? Why did that even matter? He shook his head to clear his thoughts.  
  
"You mean things like these?" The black man produced the surveillance photos he'd taken of the picture of her dresser with the objects lying on top, vaguely hidden by hair brushes and things.  
  
Angel closed the file; feeling defeated and violated, and handed it to Gunn. "Just get out."  
  
"Angel I'm sorry." The younger man said, while Angel grabbed hold of his shirt and dragged him towards the door. "I really am."  
  
"You should be," Angel said as he closed the door in his best-- no, EX-best friend's face. Somewhere deep down he knew that this wasn't Gunn's fault, but it was so much easier to blame others than just accept things....The pain wasn't quite as bad when there was someone to blame.  
  
Gunn frowned at the door. What was he supposed to do now? He knew that Angel would simmer down, but until he did, there wasn't much he could do for his friend but wait. Unless he could find Wes and Lorne..They'd know what to do. So long as they weren't still fighting over that cute Texan chick..  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hours later, Angel looked at the door. The sharp raps from the other side had brought him out of his thoughts. He hoped it wasn't room service. He didn't feel like going out of his room. Then again, a walk down by the pool would do him good.  
  
After a few more seconds, the person knocked again. He groaned and heaved himself up. "I'm coming."  
  
Opening the door, he came face to face with the woman that had led him on for the last week or so, "Angel," she sighed "We need to talk."  
  
He frowned harshly at her, a thousand different emotions flowing inside him. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to slam the door in her face. He wanted to scream at her for toying with him. He just wanted to kiss her and hold her as he had the previous night..It was all so damn hard. Why couldn't he just *know* how to react?  
  
And there she stood, wanting him to just slam the door in her face and reject her, or call her a name. But more than anything, she wanted him to take her into his arms and tell her it would be all right.  
  
However, Cordelia Chase knew that none of the above was really possible.  
  
Angel shook himself from his stupor and silently moved aside, waiting for her to enter and make the first move. After all, he had come to him. She could start the conversation.  
  
"I know you're mad...." she began, her eyes scanning the floor. The tears she'd shed had been roughly wiped from her eyes before she'd knocked on the door, but she couldn't do anything about the ones that were already forming. Especially not if she looked at him.  
  
He forced back the snide comments that were forming on his tongue. 'Give her the benefit of the doubt' his mind repeated, over and over. It was rapidly becoming his mantra. 'Give her the benefit of the doubt'. Those few words alone were all that was preventing him from blowing up in front of her. He wondered if she even realized this as she forced herself to look up at him.  
  
"Look, I don't want to do this here. Can I come in?" she asked, voice shaking.  
  
He *had* moved aside, had he not? Well, maybe she was too upset with getting caught out to notice. Angel, once again, bit his tongue and stepped away from the doorframe. His mantra was still in full effect, although he didn't know how long he could keep it up.  
  
Cordelia entered the room, making careful note to come in quickly and stay far away from him. There was something about his demeanour that gave her the heebie-jeebies. Then again, he had every right to be angry. She would be if she were in the same situation. But she wasn't, and she had no idea exactly what he was thinking or feeling. She could only wait to see how he would react. An educated guess told her that it would be far from an enjoyable experience.  
  
After Cordy entered, Angel closed the door and turned to face her, arms crossed over his chest. "Talk." He growled. "I'm listening." He could feel his resolve slipping as he spoke. His mantra was definitely beginning to lose its effect.  
  
Cordelia frowned when she heard the tone in his voice. 'May as well get to the point' she thought silently. "I'm engaged," she said, cringing as she watched him flinch. She hadn't meant to hurt him..Was it too late to make amends? Of course it was. The only thing she could do now was try to explain, and somehow she knew it was going to be more difficult than she first thought. Steeling herself, Cordelia took a deep breath and prepared for his reaction.  
  
*************************  
  
Well, there's another chapter. (Gotta love these cliffies, huh? *winking*) We apologise *again* for the long delay and hope you'll stick around for the next chapters.  
  
Also, before we go, don't forget to review. We like to know if you are reading it and enjoying it.  
  
Until next time!  
Press review now. ^_^ Thanks 


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